


Standing Sentinel

by Magentas_Nightmare



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria - Freeform, Alexandria Safe-Zone (Walking Dead), Caryl, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Major character death - Freeform, Male-Female Friendship, Romantic Friendship, Slllllloooooooooowwww burn, Sloooooow Burn, Smut, War, ZA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:20:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 28,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magentas_Nightmare/pseuds/Magentas_Nightmare
Summary: Glenn and Abraham have been killed and Alexandria is left to decide whether they will bow down to Negan and the Saviors to fight for their freedom.
Relationships: Denise and Tara, Rick and Michonne, daryl and carol
Comments: 90
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hudsonbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hudsonbird/gifts).



> My version of events is a little different from the show in the following ways:  
> \- Merle is alive and living in Alexandria. Andrea was killed at Woodbury but Merle wasn't. The other elements of the Woodbury storyline happened, such as what happened between Merle and Glenn and Maggie.  
> \- Maggie is at 36 weeks of pregnancy when Glenn is killed, rather than being less pregnant at the time like in the show. 
> 
> The rest of the smaller changes I made should be easy to pick up on, but these changes should be known before starting:)  
> This was written from different POVs but not Merle's which is a huge change for me as a writer and I hope it is still enjoyable to everyone. I liked the idea of challenging myself by telling his story through the eyes of others and just through the words he says himself, it leaves the reader with a little more mystery about his thought process which I think is interesting.  
> Thanks for reading! xoxo Teagan

> **Chapter One - Prologue**
> 
> * * *

_Time stood still and grief was palpable in the first days that proceeded the deaths of Abraham and Glenn. The Alexandrians were allowed to walk away from the bloody scene with the knowledge that if they ever crossed Negan again, he wouldn't hesitate to take more of their people as payment. The new world brought with it so much pain and struggle that it was hard to imagine things getting worse, but they were witnessing a deeper level of hell._

_The loss of Abraham and Glenn was felt by every member of the community but there was an added level of tragedy for Maggie. She had experienced something more horrific than anyone's worst nightmares could conjure. Being forced to watch as the love of her life and father to her unborn child was bludgeoned to death before her eyes was truly evil at its most depraved. They all wondered how she'd ever pull through and she still hadn't emerged from the little home she had shared with Glenn. Food was left on the step and empty dishes were put out hours later, but she still hadn't come out._

_Daryl questioned if what Merle was doing was wise, but from the day they returned without Glenn and Abe, Merle had kept silent watch outside Maggie's home at night. Daryl didn't really understand what was going on in his brother's mind. Merle had never been close with Glenn or Maggie. If truth be told, Glenn had probably never forgiven Merle for the beating he received in Woodbury and the way that Maggie had been terrorized by the Governor there. Daryl could see it ending badly when Maggie finally realized that Merle was spending his nights armed and standing on her front porch, but Merle couldn't be reasoned with at the best of times._

_The group who had been with Maggie since the farm all felt the loss along with her more than the Alexandrians and struggled with how to help her. Rick wanted to simply go over and knock until she answered the door, but Michonne felt it was best to allow her space. There was much debate over her health since she was at 36 weeks of pregnancy and had witnessed something that would leave the most battle-tested soldier in pieces. Denise wanted very much to check on her but didn't feel that she knew her well enough to push the issue._

_A heavy cloud hung over the heads of every resident of Alexandria and it wasn't simply the grief they would be forced to tackle, they were now living under the thumb of a man with no morals. They would be required to provide supplies to the Saviors, they would have to follow his orders or face punishment. The new world brought out the worst in some people, it seemed to create darkness in the hearts of men that knew no bounds. Civility was a fragile concept that was quickly forgotten when resources were at stake and the thirst for power was something man would never escape. As with dictators throughout history in the old world, the group had found new tyrants over their time in the new world. The Governor, Gareth and the group at Terminus, Dawn at Grady Memorial Hospital, and now Negan and his Saviors. But it wasn't in them to give up, but the road ahead was the darkest it had ever been and nothing would improve until Negan was dead and gone..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting two chapters upfront because the first chapter is only an introduction. The first couple of chapters are shorter just to get the story rolling:) The next chapter will be posted in 2-3 days:)

> **Chapter Two**
> 
> * * *

Daryl sat next to Carol in the home of Rick and Michonne who were once again discussing what should be done about Maggie. It had only been a few days and Daryl figured that Maggie still needed more time to come to terms with what happened. Everyone was still coming to terms with it and would be for some time to come. Daryl agreed with Michonne that she should be left to grieve in peace and to his knowledge Carol thought that was best as well. The last thing she needed was to be dragged out or intruded upon while in the worst pain of her life. They had evidence that she was eating and that was a very good sign that she was still caring for herself. What more could anyone expect of her now?

“She's taking the trays of food and they're being left with half-eaten pieces so she's not just dumping it in the garbage or something,” Michonne said.

“There's more to being well than eating,” Rick argued.

“Maybe this is all she can do right now. She knows where we are if she needs us,” Daryl added.

Carol had been through a loss similar to Maggie and Daryl had been one of her best friends ever since. He was waiting for her to add her two cents but she had a habit of being observant until she made up her mind completely. Even after so much time, Daryl still found her to be a bit of a mystery. She wasn't an open book by any stretch, Carol was a series of clues that you needed to decipher and he always liked that about her. Daryl was known for being quiet himself and they allowed each other that space and silence when it was needed. When she finally spoke, he knew that hers was the best idea of all.

“Maybe we can leave a letter with the tray of food asking her if she needs anything and telling her that we love her,” Carol suggested.

“Now that's an idea,” Michonne smiled. “Thank you, Carol. That's what we'll do.”

Sasha and Rosita had remained busy since the death of Abraham and seemed to be managing in their own way. There was an uncomfortable alliance between his former lover and the woman he was with when he was killed and that alliance was aimed at the death of Negan and nothing more. Eugene was inconsolable over Abraham but had turned all of his energy to his bullet making procedure to help in the future battle against the Sanctuary. He surely had more going on in his lab/garage but he was tight-lipped about it.

It was understood without saying it that they would fight back, life under the management of Negan was unacceptable, but as yet there was no concrete plan. Those closest to the men killed had no option but to gather themselves and take steps forward in the hopes of revenge against Negan and freedom for the entire community. It was the most worthy cause anyone could think of but how to pull it off was still unknown to them.

Daryl and Carol stepped out into the evening air after the meeting and noted that Merle was crossing the main square toward Maggie's home with his backpack and his sidearm on his hip.

“He's still doing this?” Carol asked. “You should speak to him.”

“This is Merle, think he'll listen?” Daryl sighed.

“She'll lose it if she finds him on her porch in the dark and that's the last thing we need,” Carol warned.

Daryl groaned, knowing she was right and left Carol on the step to chase after his older brother.

“Merle! Wait up.”

“Yeah?”

“About this thing you're doing...what's it all about?” he began.

“I'm just keeping watch. I'm not hurting anyone.”

“But she might get pissed. You and her and Glenn weren't exactly friends.”

“Doesn't matter. I just wanna make sure she's safe while that madman is still out there.”

“I'm pretty sure she never got over what happened at Woodbury.”

“I don't expect her to, that ain't what this is about anyway.”

“Merle, this doesn't make sense.”

“It's just something I gotta do.”

“So you're gonna keep this up every night?” Daryl sighed in frustration.

“Until that prick is dead.”

“It's gonna end badly when she finds out.”

“She won't. I only keep watch after dark, she doesn't even know I'm there.”

“Merle...”

“If she finds out and asks me to stop, I will.”

Merle apparently decided the conversation was over and left Daryl grumbling to himself in the street.

There was no point in talking to Merle when his mind was made up but this was probably one of the worst ideas he'd ever had and it still made no sense to Daryl.

Daryl watched as Merle stepped up onto Maggie's front porch and stood stock still, scanning the area every few minutes. His footsteps were silent as the grave as he set foot on the wooden boards of the porch. Merle moved like a soft breeze through the woods, making him one of the best hunters left alive, walking silently upon wooden deck boards was no challenge for him. Daryl knew that Merle wouldn't rest, he would be alert until dawn and then he'd vanish like a ghost before she awoke. Maggie would probably never know he was there and that's clearly how he preferred it.

“No luck I take it,” Carol said, coming to stand next to him.

“I tried, but this is Merle. He's his own worst enemy...always has been,” Daryl sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading:)   
> This is a story with two relationships in it and one is a sloooooooow burn. Just want that to be known now because it will be a bit of a wait, but I worked hard on it and I think the wait will be worth it. Teagan xoxo

> **Chapter Three**

* * *

To Daryl's astonishment, Merle was ready to hunt at first light after keeping watch on Maggie's porch all night long.

“Don't you sleep anymore?” Daryl queried as he pulled on his clothes.

Merle was at his bedroom door ready to go at 5 am and Daryl tried to be quiet so as not to wake Carol across the hall.

“I don't feel tired these days. I'll take a rest when I get back,” Merle explained.

“Alright,” Daryl yawned. “Let's go.”

They headed outside the gates, nodding to Tara at the guard station.

Tara and Denise shared Daryl and Carol's home with them and were great roommates. Daryl and Carol were close friends while Denise and Tara were a couple, but they all got along like a house on fire.

“Good luck, guys,” she nodded.

“Thanks, you cooking tonight, or is it me?” Daryl asked.

“Me and Denise are making supper,” she reminded him.

Daryl and Merle headed to the surrounding perimeter of Alexandria to check traps and hunt small game. Large game was a little harder to come across but there was still a lot of small game and the occasional wild boar that would always mean a feast. After checking the first few traps, Daryl decided to try again to speak to Merle about Maggie.

“She still doesn't know you're there at night?” he began.

“If she does, she hasn't said anything. I'm quiet anyway, so I doubt it,” Merle said, bending down to pick some red berries from a bush. "Have you seen any Dogwood trees in the area?"

"Huh?"

"I got some cornflowers here but I wanna find a Dogwood tree. I need some of the bark," Merle continued.

"What the hell for?" Daryl huffed. 

Merle had a bad habit of changing the subject mid-conversation and this was a prime example of that.

"I'm working on a little project at home," Merle explained, without actually explaining very much.

“Look, about this Maggie thing. I just don't wanna see her blow up at you over this cause I know you're just trying to be decent," Daryl pressed.

Merle was still putting various berries and leaves in his pockets and Daryl was becoming exasperated with it all.

"Merle!"

"For once, I'm trying to think of someone else and I still get shit about it," Merle sighed. "I know she'd be upset about me being there, that's why I'm being quiet. I just wanna make sure she's safe. She's having a baby right away for Christ's sake."

“Ever since this thing with Negan...I don't feel like I get what's going on with you.”

“Glenn hated me, and rightfully so, but I'm gonna make sure his baby gets here safely and I'm gonna protect his wife to do that. You know, sometimes it feels like I can't win for trying, Daryl. People get mad when I do wrong _and_ when I do right.”

“I'm not mad, I get where you're coming from. I just don't know how she'll react.”

“I guess she'll probably be mad, I can understand that from her point of view, but as long as I'm breathing I won't let any harm come to that woman...I have to do this,” Merle answered and continued on ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How much could one person cry? It felt like an experiment in grief. Maggie wandered the floors day and night, slept in spurts that ended in adrenaline rushes mixed with disorientation, and ate just enough to keep people from harassing her.

Every morning, she awoke to the horror that it wasn't all a bad dream. Each sunrise brought with it the cold and bleak reality that she would never kiss his lips again. Glenn would never hold their baby. Hers was the last face he saw as he was dying and there was nothing she could ever do to change it.

The pendulum swung back and forth between pain like she hadn't felt before and rage that burned deep within for Negan. She needed to see him bleed and die. Her father wouldn't want this for her, even Glenn might advise her to not seek revenge but she was past that. She was alone in the world now and although she wished she could cling to the concept of forgiveness, Negan was a bridge too far.

She ran a tub and stepped into it carefully, holding her belly as she always did now, so protectively. Sinking into the water, she smiled as her baby kicked her, responding to the warm water surrounding them both. She was 36 weeks along, and the time would soon come when being a mother would take priority over her mourning. It went without saying in her own mind that she would carry on, there was no way she planned to let the likes of Negan rob her of motherhood. This child was all she had left of Glenn and she would honor this gift of life till her dying breath.

She began to cry again at random and knew it would be happening for days, perhaps weeks to come. Glenn was in every thought, every dream, every movement of her unborn child. The grief filled her mind, it was inside her every waking moment.

The day would come where she would have to leave the house and function, she knew it was coming soon, but for today all she wanted was to soak in the tub and cry. She could still feel his touch, hear his voice in her ear as he made love to her, see his perfect sweet smile when she told him they were expecting. Glenn was the truest heart she'd ever known. Love died with him and she couldn't imagine it returning in any other form. For the rest of her days, it would be just her and her child and she felt comfortable with it. How could she ever let someone in again in this world?

/

Daryl followed Merle back to Alexandria with a few squirrels and a rabbit from the traps. Merle was dragging his feet and didn't even hear the small group of walkers just off the trail.

“Merle!” Daryl hissed. “Wake up!”

Merle snapped out of it and took down a walker closing in on him in time to assist his brother with the other two.

“Sorry,” he yawned.

“You need to sleep or you're gonna get yourself killed!” Daryl warned.

“I'm going now,” he assured him. “I'll be fine.”

“You don't have to punish yourself like this,” Daryl insisted.

“I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Someone needs to watch out for her, so why not me?”

He watched as Merle was allowed in at the gates by Tara and then walked off toward the small house he lived in all alone. Daryl had asked Merle to share the same house as him but he chose a tiny place on the edge of town that nobody else wanted. It made complete sense to Daryl, Merle would always see himself as an outsider and would tend to shun himself before others had a chance.

Daryl was one with the group, he had close relationships, like the one he shared with Carol, but Merle was an island unto himself. Much of the isolation was earned through poor choices in the past but he wished that people could see more in his brother than just his worst behavior.

Daryl still got the chills when he imagined Merle on that rooftop, burning in the heat and dying of thirst. The desperation it must have taken to saw through his own flesh and bones...how the betrayal of being left there would scar a person's soul. Daryl didn't condone the way Merle reacted to Glenn, without question he had taken it too far. Still, being told he was the one to not be trusted after being left for dead was a low blow and something snapped in his brother that day. Daryl knew how much, especially now, Merle regretted that release of anger. He could never take it back, but he could keep Maggie alive. Daryl only hoped it wouldn't end in a war when she found out about her personal watchman.


	4. Chapter 4

> **Chapter Four**

* * *

Maggie was up before the sun and stared out the front window onto the dark street to decide if today was the day she'd leave the house. She didn't need the questions and the sympathy reminding her what she'd lost. She knew they were all sorry for her, she knew they all wished they could have done something but hearing it would make it too real and she couldn't bear it.

She was struck then by a light coming from somewhere beneath her window and then the shadow of a person was clearly moving on her porch.

Maggie grabbed her handgun and tiptoed down the stairs, knowing that this had to be a Savior, who else would be there so early lurking in the dark? She took a deep breath as her eyes locked on the doorknob and she moved across the last few steps. Her hand closed around the handle and she cocked her gun, she was going to take care of anyone who dared to harm her or her child in one swift action. She imagined Negan himself standing before her and the relief she'd feel at ridding the world of him. One last shaky breath filled her lungs and then she opened the door.

“What the hell?” she screamed upon discovering who it really was.

“Don't shoot! It's me!”

Maggie's adrenaline was on about level 300 and her hands trembled as she lowered her firearm at the realization that Merle Dixon was on her porch.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded to know.

“I was just keeping watch.”

“What?”

“I've been here every night since it happened,” he explained.

“Why?”

“The people who...they're still out there. It just felt like the right thing to do. I don't want anything to happen to you.”

“It's not your job to protect me,” she reminded him.

“I know that,” he agreed.

The idea of Merle Dixon on her porch every night felt so strange, but not threatening.

“I never meant you any harm, Maggie. I'm sorry,” he said and she immediately relented.

“I just didn't know...you scared me half to death," she sighed.

“I can keep watch further away. The last thing I want is to scare you.”

She softened at the regret in his eyes and decided to be gentle with him.

“It's OK...just let me know what you're up to next time. I could have killed you just now.”

“I will. I'm sorry,” he nodded. “I'll go now, it's almost daylight. Leave a note on the porch if you change your mind and you want me to stand watch from down the road instead.”

“It's alright,” she answered. “It's a nice gesture actually, I just wish I knew.”

“Maggie?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want him dead?”

“More than anything?” she answered honestly, knowing exactly who he meant.

He nodded and picked up his backpack then and she watched him walk back to his own little house in the dark. Merle Dixon was not someone she ever considered a friend and the whole thing felt odd. He didn't even seem to have an explanation for his presence on her porch that was rational, but at least he hadn't offered her the expected sympathies. Hearing how sorry everyone was would change nothing. What she wanted was Negan dead, and strangely that was the one thing Merle did mention.

/

Maggie knew that if it was left any longer, people would be pushing their way through her door and a sweet letter on her food tray confirmed that it was time. She got dressed up properly, brushed her hair, and tried to look as 'with it' as she could.

The sun was so much brighter than expected and she squinted as if she were greeting the day for the first time ever. She ran her hand slowly down her ample belly and took a deep breath before closing the door behind her and walking over to the kitchen and dining hall.

She was excited to only see Daryl and Carol in the hall. It was clear that she couldn't hide from people forever but a big crowd all at once would be too much.

Carol smiled and nodded to her and Daryl reached out his arms to her for a quick hug.

“Hey," Carol said softly. "Good to see you."

“Hey," she answered simply.

“It's a big first step,” Daryl smiled.

“You'll never guess who I found on my porch this morning.”

“Shit!” Daryl winced.

“It's alright, but I did almost blow his brains out,” she grinned.

“I told him it was a bad idea but you know my brother. I'm sorry, Maggie.”

“It's OK. Really. Just wasn't expecting him to be protective like this.”

“He's a little off the deep end at the moment,” Daryl shrugged.

“I guess I will sleep a little better if he's out there,” Maggie said.

“Is there anything at all we can do?” Carol asked.

“No. I'm going to be in rough shape for a while, but thanks to this little one, I have to keep moving...although I have moments where I can't keep it together at all.”

“We're here if you need us, and if you need space, you can have that too,” he smiled.

“Thanks so much for not doing the sympathy routine,” she sighed. “I heard that so much after Dad and Beth, I just can't take it anymore.”

Carol reached out to touch her hand and she loved how perfect their comfort was. She knew she could survive the rest of the group in time but this was already enough.

“Tell them I emerged and that I'm OK,” she asked of them.

“You got it,” Daryl assured her.

“I need to get back home, but I made it all the way here without breaking down so I'm giving myself a sticker for that.”

“We love you, take all the time you need,” Carol offered.

“Love you too. See you later.”

“Later,” Daryl nodded.

/

Maggie was just sitting in bed staring at the walls late at night when she wondered if Merle was outside her home. Curiosity eventually got the best of her and she was too awake to sleep anyway. Slowly she crept down the stairs in her robe and slippers and saw his shadow leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed. She sighed and shook her head in wonderment at his thought process.

Why he thought this made sense, she'd never know, but extra protection couldn't be a bad thing. His heart appeared to be in the right place and that was something. She hated Merle for a long time, but hatred fades and gradually she was able to look beyond Woodbury to who he was now. The Merle she knew now was no longer angry or aggressive, he was almost a ghost if she were being honest. He rarely spoke to anyone apart from Daryl, he lived alone, he'd spend days in the woods for no apparent reason. If she had to guess, he was depressed and unable to connect with anyone. She could understand that feeling more than anyone at the moment.

She decided to make him a hot cup of coffee and a sandwich just for something to do that wasn't staring at the walls. He would be surprised to be offered anything from her and the stunned look on his face would be worth it all by itself.

/

Maggie walked to the front door, holding a mug and a plate, and had to put the plate on a table near the door to open it.

“Merle?”

“Hey, did you want me to move on down the road a ways?” he asked before she could offer him the drink.

“Here,” she said, holding the mug out to him.

“For me?”

“Yeah, take it. I got something else here too.”

She turned back to pick up the plate and set it down on the porch railing for him.

“What's this all about?” he asked.

“Thought you might be hungry...and if you're staying up all night like a crazy person, coffee will help.”

“Thanks, Maggie. You sure didn't have to.”

“Never had a personal bodyguard before,” she shrugged. “Figured it was only right to keep you well-fed.”

“You swear I'm not upsetting you?” he asked.

“I'm not upset...but how long do you plan to keep this up?”

“Until that bastard is dead.”

“That could be a long time.”

“As long as it takes, I won't have him or any of his group lay a finger on you or your baby.”

“Be careful out here,” she said.

“I will.”

She swatted at a mosquito then and hissed because it had already bitten her on the leg. Reaching her own leg was no easy task anymore.

“They're bad tonight,” he said. “You go on and don't get yourself eaten alive.”

“Aren't they bothering you?” she asked.

“Nah, they don't seem to want my blood,” he chuckled.

“Well...goodnight,” she smiled. 

“Rest well,” he nodded. “Thanks a lot for the food and coffee.”

“It was nothing," she smiled.

“You're stronger than I'd ever be in the same shoes. Your baby has nothing to fear with you for a mother...if you don't mind me saying.”

“I appreciate that, Merle," she answered. "It's not easy, but I'm trying."

"You're doing just fine, there's no rush," he said.

It wasn't 'I'm so sorry for your loss' or 'How are you managing, dear?' or 'Glenn was such a wonderful person' and she was so glad of that. Commenting on her strength made her feel even just that little bit better. It was like a reminder that she was already coping better than some others might, that she should be proud to be even standing. She really did appreciate his words, it was just what she needed to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder, there are two couples in this story, one is a slow burn and one is coming very soon. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story and thanks for reading! xo Teagan


	5. Chapter 5

> **Chapter Five**

* * *

Early the next morning, Daryl was sharing a private joke with Carol when Aaron walked into the dining hall, back from a short run.

“I think I have some information for Denise,” he smiled.

“She's at the clinic right now,” Carol informed him. “What is it?”

“There's a community college a couple hours away to the south and they have medical equipment. I didn't know what to bring back so I guessed, and brought back some basic things I found but I think if someone took Denise she could find some things to help Maggie with the baby,” Aaron rambled excitedly.

“That's good news. Me and Carol can take her. Right, Carol?” Daryl suggested.

“Sure thing. I'll go talk to Denise.”

Carol got up, after stopping to whisper something else related to their private joke into his ear, and walked out of the dining hall to share the good news.

“So, are you two...” Aaron began.

“Are we two what?”

“Nothing. Uh...so yeah, I think it'll be an easy run but you should get going soon. There could be something there that could really help with Maggie and somehow nobody has touched the place.”

Daryl wondered what Aaron was starting to say but decided not to push it. He liked to keep everything light and easy with the group and whatever he was going to mention seemed personal in some way.

“I'll go get loaded up. Babies in this world are a dangerous prospect,” Daryl sighed, remembering the sacrifice that Lori had made to bring Judith into the world. Maggie knew all too well about that sacrifice obviously and had to be having some reservations about her own upcoming birth.

/

Daryl met with Carol back at their home where out of some telepathy, she was also packing up.

“Denise says she'll be ready right away, she's just spending an hour with Tara before we go.”

Daryl heard both Tara and Denise coming in then and expected to be hearing some amorous sounds coming from the room down the hall in the next few minutes. Such was the fun of sharing a home with a couple.

“This college could be a great run,” Carol smiled.

“It really could. I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to her going into labor after Lori,” he winced.

“I know how you feel. This place is better equipped than the prison though. We'll do all we can for her.”

Suddenly, they heard giggling and then the sound of either Tara or Denise being backed against a wall. Then there was moaning and Daryl had no idea what to say or do.

“Well...uh, I guess I better get the car loaded up.”

“They sure do get down a lot,” Carol grinned.

They had both heard Tara and Denise many times but they never addressed it with words before now and he decided that it could be fun to speak more frankly with Carol.

“It's enough to make a man jealous,” he commented.

“Are you hurting, Daryl Dixon?” she winked. "Poor guy."

It was too tempting, he had to see what she'd say if he just hinted at it.

“Maybe I am,” he shrugged. “Been about a million years for me.”

“Same, but then it wasn't really worth remembering,” she joked.

“That's a shame,” he said in a serious tone that she clearly didn't expect.

It was always right there between them, a closeness that could never be denied, but there was also an apprehension that something would sever their bond if one weren't careful.

“It is a shame,” she agreed. “I forget what a good lay even feels like.”

“Carol!” he exclaimed in surprise.

“What? Like you don't miss it too?” she grinned as she lifted up her backpack to throw over her shoulder.

“You got me there,” he relented awkwardly. “You go and surprise me sometimes, Carol.”

“I know,” she chuckled. “I live to make you squirm without warning.”

/

They were on the road within the hour, with Denise in the back resting from the afterglow.

“Need a cigarette?” Daryl teased.

“All good,” Denise smiled. “Just gonna take a little nap back here if that's OK.”

“Sure. Aaron says it'll take a couple of hours.”

The road was empty and they made good time. Carol was always happy to go on runs with Daryl, they understood each other. She loved that she could always talk to him, but also that they weren't afraid to be quiet around each other.

They arrived at the community college and Daryl turned to wake up Denise who was grinning in her sleep.

“Wakey wakey, doctor,” he chuckled. “Sweet dreams?”

“Maybe,” she yawned. "Wow! Look at this place!”

It was huge and it looked completely untouched. All three of them were optimistic at what they might find. They crept around the back of the building after hiding the car from view behind a row of bushes. Daryl wanted to find the back entry point mentioned by Aaron and get in and out a safely as possible. There were a few walkers in the area, mostly milling around in the trees about 20 feet away. Denise wasn't battle tested with walkers, so Carol led the way to get her inside as Daryl kept watch. These days they only fought when they needed to. Avoiding confrontation was the name of the game now. All of them would get their hands dirty if they needed to but nobody was risking their neck for no reason anymore. If they could get in without being noticed, that's how it would be done.

Daryl stayed in front as they made their way inside through the broken window covered with plywood that Aaron told him about. From what they could tell, it was indeed an untouched building and they finally reached a large open room with a mock ward. There were medical beds and curtains and drawer after drawer of gowns, gloves, masks, syringes, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, and countless other useful items.

“Oh my God!” Denise grinned like she'd hit the jackpot.

“Me and Carol should do a sweep of this level while you go through this area and collect what you need,” Daryl decided. “We'll see if there's anything else useful and make sure there's no walkers or people inside the rest of the college. We'll lock you in here and leave you a gun. Deal?”

“Sounds good to me,” Denise nodded.

/

Carol backed Daryl up as they cleared room by room across the floor. There were classrooms on the level where Denise was tearing through the mock hospital unit and on the floor below were dormitories. Some doors were locked but some weren't and they managed to find some food, personal items, and medical kits.

“This place is gonna be good. I Hope Denise can find things to help Maggie...I still can't believe Glenn's gone,” Carol winced.

“I know. It feels like it never ends...the death.”

“It's always so uncertain,” she agreed. “Feels pointless to even start anything when you know you might never see it come to fruition.”

“What do you want to start?” he asked.

“I don't know...just projects and things like that,” she shrugged.

“It's gonna be OK, you know?” he insisted.

Carol sat on a twin bed that had once belonged to a nursing student and looked around herself for a moment.

“Is it?” she asked.

“Hey,” he began, coming to sit next to her. “Since when are you so down?”

“It just feels like it could all end without warning, doesn't it?”

“We're gonna make it, me and you can't be stopped,” he smiled.

She looked into his eyes then and she believed him. Somehow he could always bring her back, even when she'd been at her lowest after Sophia died.

“How do you always do this?” she grinned, shaking her head at the reality that Daryl knew her better than she even knew herself.

“Do what?”

“Bring me back from the ledge with only a smile.”

“Cause I wanna bring you back from that ledge more than anything. I need you with me,” he said.

She knew how much he cared for her, but there was something else in his voice this time.

“Daryl...I don't think I'd be here still if it weren't for you.”

“Then stick with me cause this world needs you and so do I.”

“What's up with you?” she smiled awkwardly when he held the stare longer than usual.

“Losing Glenn and Abe...it's just another reminder that we need to move faster than in the old world if there's something we want. I've been thinking, I'd rather have 5 minutes of what I really want than a lifetime of never even trying.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I think you know what I want, don't you?”

“Don't do this to me,” she almost pleaded.

“I want you, Carol. I'm your friend before anything else, so if you don't want me like this then I understand, but I had to tell you now while I still can.”

Carol could feel her heart race. She never thought he'd say it.

“I want you too.”

“Seriously?” he grinned. “Man, I've wanted to say that to you for so long but I've been a chicken about it till now.”

She didn't know what to say, but the thought of kissing him was most prevalent in her mind. Thankfully, he made the first move there too.

It felt like some kind of alternate reality as he moved closer to her. Countless times she had imagined them close like this and always feared that maybe it would be too much like friends and it wouldn't have that spark.

He was right there suddenly and their lips touched just once and she knew it wasn't going to be an issue. Daryl was almost instantly over her and she was wrapped up in his big arms. The kiss went from one innocent peck to all out battle for supremacy between their lips and tongues. He urged his way between her legs with his knees on the tiny twin bed and she almost whimpered as he slid his hand under the small of her back to hoist her back further on the bed, pulling her pelvis up to meet his in the process. He was hard as hell and she knew this was it. Friends to lovers, they had crossed that line.

“How much time do you think we have?” he asked.

“I don't know...she's safe where she is, so maybe an hour?”

“Right? She'll be busy with all that medical crap,” he growled. "I need at least an hour for what I wanna do to you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting two chapters today cause I'm a decent person and I don't do smut cliffhangers:) lol


	6. Chapter 6

> **Chapter Six**

* * *

Daryl's hands were everywhere at once it seemed like he couldn't quite touch her enough to meet his satisfaction. He was breathless and thrusting harder against her than he probably meant to. She could feel years of tension in every kiss and knew that this was a release as necessary and pure as anything religious. He needed this and so did she. Physical contact was easy to treat as a luxury but it was what made them human.

He knelt between her legs and squirmed out of his leather vest before pulling his shirt over his head just to return for more of her kiss. His hot skin under her greedy hands made her weak with lust. She imagined him then, hard and driving into her with all the fury of a man on his last legs, a man who had just been released after a life sentence without love.

“I wanna give it to you so good, Carol...I gotta touch you now,” he growled.

"I need it too, this is gonna be fast and I'm totally OK with that," she smirked.

Carol was beyond decency and offered him her body and soul in that moment. She reached down and pulled her shirt over her head before unlatching her bra. He came back down over her then and ran his rough hands down her sides as he began to lick her neck and ears. This was going fast and she had no regrets. It felt in some ways that they should have been doing this for a long time. In that sense, it wasn't so much fast as very overdue.

Daryl moved slowly down her body, cupping her breasts and bringing them one at a time to his mouth to suck with just enough pressure to make her core radiate with pulsating heat.

“Damn,” she purred as her hand crept down inside his black jeans to feel his formidable cock.

Just as she imagined, he was more than ample in the dick area and hard as stone in her hand.

He was on her then, fumbling with the fly of her pants and then fighting to get them down her legs.

“I'm sorry...but I'm in need of this worse than I thought,” he explained as her panties were torn down to her knees.

“Don't be sorry, just give it to me,” she whined as her hands fought with his pants in return. 

/

Daryl kicked off his jeans and boxers and settled his wide shoulders between her thighs to drive her right out of her mind. This wasn't really how he imagined it. It was always passionate in his head but it wasn't this desperate and clumsy. He couldn't care about that now, though, all he wanted was to make her cum and then make love to her before he exploded. Next time could be slow. Next time could be romantic like she deserved. He was a Dixon man and he'd been starving for it even more than he realized. Just one touch of her bare skin and it hit him just how desperate he had become for sex.

He licked up her inner thigh as she squirmed before him and his eyes settled on her perfect wet lips. Her body called to him, begging for the kind of penetration only he could offer. She was already so gone and her thighs lay wide open against the palms of his strong hands.

“Cum for me,” he pressed as two of his thick fingers entered her, stroking her soft, slick, wet inner walls. “I wanna fuck you so nice, but you gotta cum for me first.”

She was breathing good and heavy and whining like he was torturing her for information when finally she started to crack. Her feet were suddenly up on his shoulders and she grabbed his head with both hands, grinding against his mouth slow and sexy as her body let it all go. She was loud and completely unapologetic about it; he felt like God.

/

She was wasted on the bed but still hungry for him and then he was over her again.

“Don't you want-”

“I can't take this anymore,” he panted. “I need to be inside you.”

“Next time then,” she winked.

“Oh yeah."

He lay his hands on either side of her head and slid into her slow and deep.

“Fuuuuuuuck!” she groaned.

His dick was pure sin and all things perfectly evil in the world. He moved slow, taking the time to give it to her with some sense of purpose rather than aggressive fucking and it felt so good she never wanted it to end.

She could sense that he was feeling the relief of sexual release already, even without finishing. Just being inside her had relaxed him and it turned a corner into more romantic sex.

“I never thought I'd have you like this,” he said, looking down at her like he couldn't quite believe it was real.

“Me neither...I thought we'd stay as friends forever.”

He came down to kiss her neck again and by this point, he was grunting and growling into the pillow she lay upon.

“I gotta cum,” he moaned. “I can't take it...it's been so long.”

“It's OK...just cum for me,” she purred. “Let it go.”

He kissed her then and somehow summoned the strength to pull out and cum on her belly.

“Jesus Christ!” he almost hollered. “Oh fuck yeah...God damn, that's good!”

/

They got dressed, actually looked for the items they were supposed to be looking for quickly, and returned to check on Denise.

“You two sure took your time,” Denise commented before even raising her head from the box she was digging in.

When she did look at them, it must have shown all over their faces.

“I see,” she grinned.

“What?” Daryl huffed.

“Look, it's none of my business or anything, but at least me and Tara won't be the only ones obnoxiously having sex at high volume in the house now.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Daryl insisted.

“Whatever,” Denise sighed. “Your shirt's inside out by the way...and you both have ridiculous sex hair.”

Carol groaned and sat back in a chair to pretend she wasn't embarrassed and Daryl decided to go with it and laughed it off with Denise.

“It was bound to happen eventually. I finally worked up the guts to tell her I wanna be more than friends,” he relented.

“About damn time,” Denise mused, organizing some items casually in a pile beside her. “You know, there's so much here that we might want to spend the night to make sure we get it all.”

“That works,” Daryl agreed. "I don't feel like driving back now.”

“Yeah, I bet you need a good nap after that,” Denise laughed.

“Stop,” Daryl muttered awkwardly.

It was fun to be involved in a conversation that had nothing to do with death for once. It felt good to breathe for a moment and forget that the world still contained people like Negan and The Saviors. The truth of their reality was never too far away, but at least for one night, they wanted to just be together and enjoy the moment while it was still so new to them.

Daryl hoped that everything would be OK in Alexandria for the night. They were under constant threat, and sometimes it became mentally exhausting. A night away with Carol would be so nice and Alexandria had Merle Dixon on guard, so Daryl wasn't too worried about it. Surely, everything would be fine when they returned the next day...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Daryl and Carol are spending the night at the nursing college with Denise, trouble is brewing back in Alexandria...

> **Chapter 7**

* * *

_“I wanna get my hands on one of their women, that'll show them who they're messing with.”_

_“We aren't here for that. Negan says just get in there, find out where they all sleep, and get the hell out.”_

_“So we can't have any fun?”_

_“Stay on task.”_

_“Whatever. You know Negan would do it if he were here.”_

_“That's Negan, not us.”_

_“I thought we were Negan.”_

_“You know what I mean. Let's go and keep your eyes on the goal for fuck sakes.”_

_“Yeah yeah, whatever.”_

####################################

Maggie spent the whole evening putting Glenn's things carefully away in boxes. She was planning to keep everything that was his but she couldn't bear to look at his possessions all the time. Curling up in the closet holding his shirts in her arms wasn't good for her mental health and she had a baby coming that she had to be strong for. Sadly, grief was something that had to be expedited in the end times. Her grief for her parents and siblings could have gone on forever, but that wasn't an option.

One by one, she folded articles of his clothing to lay in boxes. Her little house had only two bedrooms and for now, she decided to place the boxes in the second bedroom just to spare her sanity. It was after midnight when she finished up and her legs were killing her by the end of the job. She got mild swelling in her feet and ankles if she was standing for a long time and she knew she needed a bath before she turned in. Down in the kitchen, she put on the kettle and looked out the window for a moment just to see if anyone else was still up. No lights in the other houses could be seen and she realized just how dark it was in Alexandria at night. Maggie poured boiling water over some tea leaves and took a long deep cleansing breath to let go of the pain of putting Glenn's things out of sight.

It felt like she was turning a necessary page and then suddenly there was a commotion coming from the back of her house. A loud bang and then the sound of someone hollering.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed and grabbed her handgun.

Maggie was never without a firearm in this world, even in her own home. Too much had gone wrong for her to ever be complacent about her own safety. Until Negan was dead especially, she would rest with one eye open. She opened the back door just a crack to find one man she didn't recognize knocked out cold on the dirt and another being held to the side of her house by Merle Dixon.

“You're dead,” Merle growled before laying a hell of a left hook across the man's face. “I heard what you said and it'll earn you a fuckin' headshot you piece of shit!”

“I am Negan!” the man smirked, “I go where I please. I do what I want.”

“Negan! You're just the prick I was looking for then! What about this one?” Merle asked, pointing to the man he had already knocked out on the ground. “Is he Negan too?”

“Hell yes,” the man answered.

“Perfect," Merle smirked.

In a heartbeat, he ended the discussion and put a bullet through both of their brains as Rick and Michonne came running around the side of the house with Rosita and Tara on their heels.

“What the hell is happening?” Rick hollered.

“These two pricks were sent by Negan to spy on us in the night. I caught them creeping around Maggie's back door and they had plans you don't even wanna think about!” he replied, still breathing heavily from the adrenaline.

“So you kill two of his men and you don't think Negan is going to retaliate?” Rick growled.

“Well, pardon me! What did you want? Should I lay out a red carpet straight to Maggie's bedroom and just let 'em do as they please? I've been standing guard to protect her and that's what I plan to do!”

“He's going to seek revenge now, Merle!”

“We should be seeking revenge! What the hell are we doing just dicking around and not fighting back?” Merle growled. “They declared war when they took out two of our best men or did you miss that?”

Maggie watched from the door, still stunned and trying to make sense of it all. She couldn't help agreeing with everything Merle was saying. She wasn't in any position to fight at the moment but it didn't make sense that they still didn't have a plan. If they were simply going to knuckle under and do as Negan said, life wouldn't be worth living anyway.

“Merle, he's going to come back with more of the Saviors and take this out on Alexandria!”

"We can hide the bodies, Rick. But either way, we need to fight back and you know that. Why delay the inevitable?" Merle argued.

“We can't just stand around bickering,” Michonne said. “We need to go with Merle's idea cause it's all we have now.”

Rick stalked up to Merle and got up close, “If he takes this out on anyone in this group, it's on you.”

“I'm gonna make sure that prick is dead before he lays a hand on any more members of this group,” Merle insisted. “I ain't stickin' my tail between my legs and doing what this asshole tells me to. I'm gonna kill the bastard.”

“Enough of this pissing contest,” Rosita interrupted. “Let's deal with these bodies.”

Maggie stepped out onto the back porch then as the rest of the group began moving the first of the bodies.

“Merle?”

“You OK?” he asked.

“I am now, but it looks like I almost wasn't,” she answered as she looked down at one of the bodies.

“This is what I'm here for, Maggie. I ain't gonna let anyone hurt you.”

“What were they going to do?” she asked, although she really wasn't sure she wanted to know.

“I don't think I can even say it to you, but I saw red...just hearing something like that. I can't live in a world where men like that walk the Earth when I could stop it.”

She had a good idea what he was referring to and wouldn't force him to say it. The truth was that she could rest knowing that Merle Dixon was on guard for her and she was very grateful.

“I don't know how to repay you,” she said.

“Not necessary. Just take care of yourself and rest easy,” he nodded, “and when the time comes...you can name your baby after me.”

She panicked that he was serious for a split second until he let out his characteristic Merle Dixon cackle and she laughed along then.

“You shoulda seen your face! Sorry, I just had to do that. I don't need any thanks, just glad you're OK,” he smiled.

She sighed then and thought for a second about what could have happened to her had he not been there and she stepped forward to do something she never thought she would. She hugged him.

It was evident that he was stunned, but he hugged her back and even patted the back of her head as you might with a child.

“It's alright. Nothin' to worry about now,” he said softly. “You're safe. I promise.”

“I just thought of what could have happened to me and I know that Glenn would thank you if he could.”

Bringing Glenn's name into conversation isn't something she could do easily anymore, but it felt appropriate now because she knew that despite the past, Glenn cared more about her safety than a grudge. At one point Merle had put them in danger at Woodbury but he wasn't that man anymore, not even a little bit. Her father had always insisted that people could change and she had been skeptical at times. She would try to honor her father's beliefs, but not when it came to Negan. She would never waiver in that regard. Negan had to die.

“I really wish Glenn was here to protect you, Maggie, but since he can't be, I'm happy to do what I can,” he answered in a serious tone that she couldn't help feeling complete comfort in.

The hug finally ended when Rick came back around the corner and looked at them strangely.

“You gonna help us with these bodies since this is your mess?” he grumbled.

"Yeah yeah, keep your shirt on," Merle answered Rick, before turning back to Maggie. "I'll be back to stand watch on the porch again when I'm done with this, OK?"

"Thanks again, Merle. Goodnight," she nodded with a smile.

"Goodnight."

Maggie heading back inside and took a slow, deep breath. Her home was still her home, a safe space that hadn't been violated by Negan's men. A feeling of security enveloped her and it was just what she needed when she was about to bring new life into the world. Grieving the loss of Glenn was one of the greatest challenges of her life, but at least she was being kept safe while she went through the process. Merle being there to keep watch was even more of a gift than he likely realized.


	8. Chapter 8

> **Chapter 8**

* * *

Daryl and Carol woke up the next morning in each other's arms and it felt so natural, they both wondered why it had taken so long and almost kicked themselves for it. He pulled her in tighter and kissed her forehead; he had more than once imagined doing that. There was so much he could actually do now, all the simple things like kissing and holding her.

“You ready to head back,” he yawned.

“Definitely. I don't like leaving too long with the Saviors still out there.”

They had found plenty to help with medical needs and with Maggie specifically. Poor Denise was in a panic over the impending birth. She wasn't a medical doctor but she had medical school under her belt so she knew more than everyone else. Textbooks about all kinds of medical conditions as well as an in-depth manual about obstetric nursing were all organized for the trip back. 

Daryl and Carol held hands and giggled in the back of the car on the way back to Alexandria. It was a turn of the tables. Normally it was Daryl and Carol playing audience to Denise and Tara's lovey-dovey behavior.

“I knew you two would end up together, Tara thought you'd never find the guts but I told her a hundred times it was gonna happen,” Denise bragged in the front.

“You shoulda said something and saved us some time,” Daryl argued.

“Nah, I bet it was really fun figuring it out yourselves.”

“You got me there,” he grinned.

/

The moment they drove inside the gates, it was apparent that something was going on and they all jumped out of the loaded vehicle praying that it wasn't about Negan.

Rick was the first to fill them in and it didn't sound good.

“Your brother went rogue and killed two of Negan's men last night.”

“But these were Negan's men inside our borders?” Daryl clarified.

“Daryl it doesn't matter. Someone will end up paying for what he did.”

Merle stalked up to the gathering at the gates to defend himself and Daryl knew there would be fireworks.

“Again, what the hell did you want me to do? Was I supposed to just hand Maggie over?”

“You could have just knocked them out.”

“Did you know they were talking about raping and strangling her?” Merle pressed. “Should I have just let them go so they can try again another night? Do we not protect women here? Are we animals or men?”

“Merle you need to calm down!” Rick insisted.

“I guess you need to think about that,” Merle growled, “I don't. I'm not letting those assholes anywhere near her and you can argue about hurting Negan's feelings all you want. When are we gonna come up with a plan to fight back? Or are we gonna be his bitches for life?”

“Watch your mouth, Dixon,” Rick shot back.

“Enough!” Michonne shouted, returning everyone to a neutral position because when Michonne raised her voice, things were serious.

“Merle is right. We protect our own and we need a plan.”

“See?” Merle barked.

“Rick is right as well, we can't go flying off the handle without communicating with each other. We need to be smart to take Negan down and poking the bear before we have a plan is stupid. We could have held his men in trade and now we have nothing to barter.”

Both men were silenced and that's when the group knew they needed to sit down and figure out a real plan.

A meeting was set for the next morning and everyone was tasked with presenting an idea about how to fight back against Negan.

Michonne was aggravated and knew that she'd be hearing about it all night from Rick, even though she only partially sided with Merle she knew it would get right up his nose. Rick had already stormed off to blow off steam and she didn't look forward to later when they'd have to hash it out. 

She was about to head back home when she was stopped by Merle Dixon.

“Michonne, can I talk to you for a second?” he began.

“Sure, what is it?” she sighed, just wanting to escape the situation as soon as possible.

“This is gonna sound a little dumb, but does Carl have any colored pencils or crayons?”

Michonne shook her head in utter disbelief, “Excuse me?”

“I'm working on something at home and it needs some color.”

“What are you working on?” she pressed.

“It's a surprise for someone...and you'd probably just laugh.”

"I'm not like that," she argued.

"It's kinda personal," he shrugged. "I feel a little weird about it at the moment."

"Will you tell me when it's done?" she asked, dying of curiosity. 

"I promise I will. I'd actually like your input when it's finished."

"Deal," she nodded.

"So, Carl has something for coloring I can use? I'll bring them right back when I'm done."

“Come over to our place, we got a whole craft drawer in the playroom you can dig through,” she laughed.

“Thanks.”

Merle ran over to Michonne and Rick's house and then headed back to meet Daryl, to see if he had any ideas for dealing with Negan.

/

Merle stopped by a little while after the meeting and Daryl informed his brother that he was with Carol now.

"That's good news, I had a feeling about you two."

“Seems like everyone saw it except us,” Daryl shrugged.

“You hang on to her,” his brother nodded. “You're good for each other.”

“Why don't you find someone too?” Daryl suggested.

“Nah.”

“You used to be quite the lady's man,” Daryl grinned.

“I used to have two hands,” he sighed.

“I think you'd figure it out, you're a Dixon.”

“It's over for me now, brother, but you and Carol can have a good future together. I'm gonna make sure this thing with Negan is over soon and then everyone can move on.”

“You're sounding kinda cryptic, Merle.”

“I'm just gonna do what it takes.”

“You're gonna get yourself killed.”

“Someone might have to die to end this. Why not me?”

“Why you?”

“I don't know, man...anyway, I'm gonna go get some sleep before I go on watch for Maggie.”

“Merle...”

“What?”

“Nothing, just don't do anything stupid. OK?”

“I'll be fine. You go and have fun with your new lady friend,” he winked.

Daryl worried for Merle, there was still no stability with him. He wondered if he'd ever find roots again or if he'd stay an outsider for the rest of his life. There was a lot of goodness in his older brother along with all the faults and he wondered if he could find someone for him. If he had a partner, maybe he could settle and stop acting so dangerously. He'd have to ask Carol if she had some suggestions, she knew more women in the community than he did.

/

Daryl and Carol mused about what to do that night and she stayed in his bedroom for the first time ever. It wouldn't be the first night they'd spent close together but there was something official about it. She walked in fresh from the shower in her nightgown and she smelled so good that it was impossible to think about Negan. Daryl knew it was important to think of a plan, but he had to get closer to her first, she was just too tempting to resist.

“Come here,” he grinned, pulling the sheets back and patting the spot next to him.

Daryl was only in his boxers and more than ready to go. He hoped he wasn't too eager for her but it had felt even better than he dreamed and he wanted more.

“Aren't we supposed to be strategizing?” she asked.

“I'm working out how to get you outta that nighty, that's strategy.”

“You're very bad.”

“You knew that, didn't you?”

“I guess you got me there,” she relented.

Carol slipped under the covers then and the excitement of having her right next to him was too good. He couldn't stop grinning like a chimp.

He needed to be with her again and he needed it a little slower. Daryl rolled toward her then and kissed her sweet and sultry, trying to get across to her just how he needed it. To his absolute delight, her leg came up around his hip and she squirmed right up close. She was so warm and soft and he allowed his hand to travel down her waist to her ass where he pulled her in tight against his already hard dick.

“I wanna take you slow, think I can actually handle my shit this time,” he said.

“Slow sounds good to me,” she purred, and then she was sliding her hand down between their bodies to touch him.

She jerked him off steady and continued to kiss him with all her passion. There were so many times he wanted this, so many times he felt like they were close. It was anyone's guess why it was now and not then but he didn't care anymore. The way it felt now that he was so comfortable with her was worth the wait. He didn't doubt her feelings for him for a second, there was nothing unstable or insecure about it. They were already a team and kissing her felt like walking through the front door of a home he'd never been lucky enough to live in. He was safe with her.

Soon she was rolling him flat on his back and disappearing playfully under the covers to tease him. Her perfect face moved back and forth across the front of his boxers and he almost caved right there at the warm sensation of her breath through cotton.

“You're a little demon,” he groaned and she only dialed it up higher, pulling down his boxers as he lifted his hips to help.

Carol made him weak with her mouth, giving it her all to please him and not missing a beat. It was like she knew just what he liked and he loved everything about how she touched him. Dixon men weren't used to being treated this way, handled with care and love, but he could get used to it.

He had to tap out swiftly but then she was over him and kissing him almost frantically again as he felt himself sliding inside her.

“Damn,” he hissed at the perfect warmth and pressure of her body.

She rolled her hips and sat up tall to pull the nightgown over her head, revealing to him her full breasts.

“Good lord, woman,” he praised. “You do me so right, Carol.”

She smiled down at him and then closed her eyes to revel in the intensity of it all. They were well in tune with each other by now and he knew that she was feeling as good as he was.

He needed to make her cum, it was a man thing, so he rolled her underneath him to finish it up while he could still contain himself and teased her with his fingers as he fucked her.

“Oh my god,” she shivered. “Right there...oh yeah...”

She was easy to please just like him, it had been so long that getting off was like being a teenager again. Doing it slowly would take some time as they still had zero stamina. Everything felt new and exciting and they were both so in love that it made the wait feel like a blessing and not a curse.

She came unglued within only a minute or so and it took all of his inner strength to pull out. Carol let it go loudly, knowing Tara and Denise wouldn't mind in the slightest, and then she was collapsed on the bed in his arms.

/

“You sure don't look like a man who just got some,” she frowned about five minutes later when he was still staring up at the ceiling. “What's on your mind?”

“Merle.”

“Merle?”

“I just don't know what's going on with him lately,” Daryl sighed. “Am I ruining your buzz?”

“Not at all,” she assured him and snuggled up into his arms again. “But, you don't suppose he...”

“What?”

“Do you think he might be interested in her?” she asked.

Daryl thought about it for a moment and wondered if it was possible.

“I hope not, I don't want to see him get all caught up in something that ain't gonna happen.”

“Stranger things have happened,” Carol mused.

“Maggie would never be with Merle,” he insisted. “Not after everything.”

“Who knows?” Carol relented. “It would be nice for him to have someone.”

“It would...I kinda feel like an asshole being so happy with you when he's all alone.”

“You're a good brother.”

“I love you, Carol,” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in tighter.

“I love you too, I have since the farm.”

“I was a jackass back then,” he sighed.

“Not all the time...just a lot of the time,” she laughed.

“Ha ha ha,” he smirked.

There was a moment of silence and he could tell she was worried about Negan again.

“We'll beat him, Carol. There's a reason for what we have, we didn't just discover this love only to lose it. I refuse to believe that.”

“We're gonna make it,” she agreed. “Me and you are gonna grow old in this house.”

“Got a plan how to beat the prick?” he yawned.

“I wish I did. I'll have to sleep on it now though, I'm wrecked.”

“Same. Goodnight, honey."

"You've never called me that before."

“Is it dumb?" he winced.

"No, I love it, babe."

"I like babe," he grinned. "Honey and babe...I really like that actually."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bragging rights to the person who can guess what Merle needs the berries, flowers, and crayons for. lol


	9. Chapter 9

> **Chapter 9**

* * *

Maggie stepped out onto her porch that night, knowing she was safe to do so and that he would be there.

“Here,” she said, offering him another cup of hot coffee.

“Thanks. How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Ready for this to be over,” she sighed, running her hands over her belly.

“How much longer?”

“Another 4 weeks or so? It's a bit of guesswork without an ultrasound or an obstetrician.”

“I'll never know how you women do that, ya'll are a brave bunch. I don't even like needles,” he chuckled.

“Oh, I'm terrified. I think about this baby actually being born and it scares me silly, I'm just acting brave to fake it till I make it,” she confessed.

“It's gonna be all good. Denise never stops studying all these books about delivering babies. She'll take care of everything.”

“Just wish we had some kind of pain medicine,” she frowned.

“Squeeze someone's hand.”

“You volunteering?” she grinned.

“I only got the one hand but it's all yours if you want it,” he joked. “Only problem is I'd faint with all that other business going on.”

Maggie sat down on the steps and breathed in the cooler evening air. Somehow when she was talking to Merle, she didn't think so much of her grief, perhaps because he still looked at her the same as ever. Everyone else had so much sympathy radiating from their eyes that it was a constant reminder. She knew Merle was sad about Glenn's death and that he felt sympathy but it wasn't always written all over his face. He was a great distraction from her pain.

“Don't worry, I won't make you be my birthing coach,” she smirked. “All Denise needs is me screaming in pain and you on the floor passed out.”

“I definitely won't be any use to you with that,” he nodded, “but I promise that Negan will be dead by the time your baby comes.”

“Merle, can I ask you something without you taking it wrong?”

“Probably, but I do have a bad habit of taking things wrong,” he shrugged.

“Why are you so focused on helping me now? We were never close while Glenn was alive.”

He didn't speak for a good minute and she could tell he was working out how to explain it.

“Everyone's lost someone in this world...but you lost everyone. You have this little one coming and Glenn won't be here, it just ain't right. I have nobody but Daryl and he doesn't need me anymore...maybe I just want to make myself useful to someone. I can't go back and save Glenn but I can protect you and this baby and someday I'll kill that bastard Negan if it's the last thing I ever do.”

“Not if I kill him first,” she said.

“You'd want to do it yourself?” he clarified.

“Yes.”

“Duly noted.”

“I don't want you getting yourself killed for this, Merle. I'm not asking you to risk your life for me.”

“There's no more just cause to die for than this. I'm not trying to get killed but if that's what it takes-”

“Promise you'll be careful,” she interrupted.

Maggie imagined him suffering the same fate as Glenn and knew that although she did want Negan dead, she didn't see sacrificing Merle as a fair tradeoff.

“I'll be careful, but I have to do this,” he stated.

Maggie could feel her butt getting sore from the hard step and moved to get up. Merle reached down to help her, taking her by the hand and then stepping back as she got to her feet. She lay her hands on her lower back, trying to work a kink out of her spine that seemed to happen every time she sat down now.

“You OK?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, I just kind of ache everywhere all the time,” she laughed, “and every time I lay down to sleep I get punched in the bladder and have to make a mad dash to the bathroom. Pregnancy is super fun.” 

He seemed surprised by the more private elements of bringing life into the world and she couldn't help laughing at the expression on his face.

“I'll go take a bath and let you go back to thinking pregnancy is a beautiful thing, shall I?”

“I still think it's beautiful,” he answered as her hand reached for the door.

“You do?”

“Definitely...you were always beautiful, but you got this glow about you now,” he nodded.

She paused at the door, wondering how a man like Merle Dixon was saying something so sweet. It was hard at the end of a pregnancy to not feel like nothing more than a baby-carrying vessel and hearing that she 'had a glow' about her was nice.

“Did I say something wrong? I'm not trying to hit on you, I promise,” he insisted.

“You didn't say anything wrong, Merle. It was really sweet. I don't really feel like myself these days,” she sighed, “and I don't have anyone to tell me I'm beautiful anymore.”

“I ain't much, but I'll tell you anytime you need to hear it,” he said.

“Thanks,” she smiled, running her hands over her belly and emphasizing how round it was.

He seemed impressed by the size of it and raised his eyebrows.

“How big is a baby when it's born anyway?” he asked.

“About 6 to 8 pounds?”

“Ouch.”

“Yep.”

“Can you feel it moving with your hand?” he asked.

“Haven't you ever been around a pregnant woman before, Merle?”

“Nope.”

“Come here,” she motioned and lay his hand on her upper right side where the baby's feet were almost always moving a little.

“I don't feel anything,” he whispered.

“Just give it a second,” she answered taking a deep breath because sometimes that would cause a little movement.

He looked up and down the street as if he was afraid someone would see him touching her. Finally, the baby stretched its little foot against her belly just next to her ribs and Merle almost jumped.

“Doesn't that hurt?”

“No, it just feels kinda weird.”

“Is that a little baby foot?” he exclaimed.

“I think so. It better be head down now or I'm in trouble,” she chuckled.

“I was born feet first, no wonder my mom never liked me,” he grinned.

She rolled her eyes, hoping he didn't really mean that. How could any mother not love her own child?

“Thanks,” he said. “I never felt anything like that before. None of my relationships ever got to this stage and I'm too old for babies now so this was probably my last chance to ever feel a baby kicking.”

“You would have been a good dad,” she said.

“You think?”

“You're very protective, that's important.”

“I tell you what, I woulda done a lot different with my life if I knew better at the time.”

“Like what?”

“Hell, I woulda gone to college somehow and made something of myself. Then maybe I could have found a woman who was willing to give me a real shot,” he chuckled. “If I could go back I'd do it all different. I'd be a good husband and have some kids and make pancakes on a Sunday.”

He was staring off down the street as he spoke, like he was seeing everything in his mind and she could see it too.

“That sounds nice,” she sighed. “Do you make good pancakes?”

“I sure do, but none of the women I met ever stayed for breakfast," he sighed. 

“There's still time,” she pressed.

“I think that dream is over for me, but maybe Daryl will have a little one with Carol and I could be an uncle or something,” he mused.

“Hey,” she said, coming close to lay her hand on his shoulder. “Don't give up hope just yet.”

“If you say so,” he nodded. “Maybe I'll hang on just a little longer.”

There was a long moment of quiet where she didn't know what to say and evidently, he didn't either.

“I guess I better get my aching body to bed. Thanks again for being here, Merle. I feel so much safer with you standing sentinel on my porch,” she smiled.

“It's my honor, ma'am,” he winked and raised his left hand in salute to her. “Goodnight, Maggie.”

“Goodnight.”


	10. Chapter 10

> **Chapter 10**

* * *

After much debate the next morning, the group decided that a fight had to be carefully orchestrated and that they needed more information about who they were up against. Merle volunteered to go out into the woods and gather intelligence and see what they could uncover about Negan's entire operation.

Eugene surprised everyone with secret weapons he was working on privately in his lab. He had been given a good-sized garage to work on his projects and bullet reloading facility.

“I do believe we could make use of some improvised explosive devices I manufactured. There would be just about enough to blow Negan and his dastardly crew sky high in the event of an ambush,” he began.

“Explosives?” Rick exclaimed. “How did you make explosives and why did you wait to tell us about this?”

“I've been occupied in my lab working out all the bugs,” Eugene defended. “I was able to locate materials necessary for the production of the aforementioned items while on a short run with Aaron about 3 weeks back. I didn't want to raise anyone's hopes too high if I wasn't able to create the intended devices. I have not as yet tested the weapons, but I feel secure in their efficacy at this juncture.”

“He's still talkin' English, right?” Merle frowned.

“My apologies, Merle. Me make bomb, bomb go boom,” he snickered.

“You're getting pretty cocky these days, Eugene. You know I could snap you in two, right?” Merle growled.

“Just kidding!” Eugene backtracked.

“Nobody is going out there or doing anything until I do some recon and find out what we're up against,” Merle argued.

“I'll go with you,” Daryl said.

“I'm going alone. I move faster and quieter alone.”

“When can you be back?” Rick asked. “We need to get moving on this fast.”

“If I go now, I could be back late tonight. I just don't want to go into this half-cocked. They are counting on us underestimating them again,” Merle said.

“Fine. But you need to be back as soon as possible. They're going to want to know what happened to the men you killed,” Rick reminded him.

“I stand by those kills,” Merle growled. “They were here to hurt Maggie.”

Merle was evidently done arguing and turned to leave and get ready. Daryl followed him out a moment later to see what was going on.

“You OK?” he asked.

“I'm fine. I think this is the best way to do this safely. I just want to see for myself what the set up is.”

“OK, but Merle...”

“What?”

“This thing with Maggie-”

“Right. I need you to keep an eye on her place tonight if I'm not back.”

“What's going on? You can tell me if you're hung up on her or something...I'll understand. I just don't want to see you get hurt,” Daryl explained.

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you have some kind of feelings for her?”

“Do you think I'm stupid or something?” he laughed. “I ain't fit to kiss Maggie's boots.”

“You didn't answer my question.”

Daryl noticed that his brother actually seemed to pause and really think about the question for a minute before answering and that was rare, Merle was normally mostly reactionary.

“She's so young, and she already lost every single person she loves. All she has is that baby and I'm gonna make sure she gets to have that baby and that she gets to raise it. I'm not like you, I don't have a woman to live for...I don't even have a real friend aside from you. I need someone to live for, Daryl.”

“You still didn't answer me.”

“I'm not gonna get hurt, I don't have my head in the clouds. I know who I am and I know that this world doesn't have much left the for likes of me, but I wanna do some good while I'm still here."

/

Maggie walked over to the shared kitchen again to show everyone she was still functioning and ran into Carol.

“Merle might not be on your porch tonight,” she sighed. “He's going out to investigate the Saviors on his own. We're planning an organized attack and he wants to make sure we have more information.”

“When is he leaving?” Maggie asked.

“Pretty soon, I think he's at his place packing a bag. He says he won't be long though. The group needs to do something about Negan sooner than later, he'll be wanting revenge for the two men Merle killed.”

Maggie tried to act casually about it but she wanted to see Merle before he left and couldn't quite explain it.

“I just need to tell him something before he goes. I'll catch up with you later,” she insisted and Carol nodded her head with a smile.

“Sure thing. Glad to see you out again today.”

“Feeling a little better today,” she said as she turned to head across the street toward Merle's little house at the end of the road.

Maggie found walking at a reasonable speed more difficult every day and she wasn't even sure what she wanted to say to him, she just wanted to tell him to be careful mostly. By the time she reached his door, he was already stepping out into the light.

“Hey,” he said, looking up to see her walking swiftly up his pathway. “Should you be walkin' so fast?”

“You're leaving?” she began. “Why are you going alone?”

“I'm just checking things out, it's no big deal.”

“Why not take Daryl with you?”

“He can stay back with Carol for now till I know what's what.”

“Oh...”

“You OK?” he asked.

Maggie didn't know what she was feeling or why she didn't seem to want him to go, but she didn't.

“Isn't it pretty dangerous to go alone?” she pressed.

“I'll be careful, and this way if I don't make it back we've only lost one person. We'll need as many people as we can to take Negan down. Daryl will watch out for you if something happens to me,” he smiled.

“You're talking like you not coming back is no big deal,” she frowned.

She could see that he was confused and he wasn't the only one. Her feelings felt a little irrational and hyperbolic but she couldn't help it. The idea that he might not ever come back was suddenly very real and the thought of losing one more person she cared for felt unbearable...and then it hit her how much she cared. Maggie turned away from him when she got choked up without warning and felt desperate to hide it.

“Maggie?” he asked as he reached out his hand to touch her shoulder from behind, making her jump. “Maggie, what's wrong?”

“Just...be careful OK?” she sniffed.

“Are you crying?” he asked and she felt so stupid.

“Shut up,” she sighed.

“Hey, it's OK. I get it.”

“You do?”

“It's the hormones, right? Just makes you cry for no reason sometimes."

“I'm not used to being this emotional,” she said, finally turning back to see him looking confused but concerned.

“You're making a whole person right now...do what you gotta do,” he shrugged.

She couldn't help laughing then at his fumbly way of making her feel better.

“Just promise you'll be careful, OK?”

“Ya'll aren't lucky enough to get rid of me this easy,” he smirked.

“I don't want to be rid of you,” she said in a more serious tone than she had ever used with him before.

“Oh...”

She had no idea what to say next. There was something in the air that she couldn't put into words but she knew she felt strong emotions about him leaving and that it wasn't typical for her.

“Don't upset yourself, honey,” he said. “Do you mind me calling you that?”

“I don't mind.”

“Can I walk you home?” he asked. “You look like you should have your feet up right about now.”

“Sure.”

Merle walked her to her front door and assured her that he'd be careful and back before she knew it but she still had apprehensions about it.

“I don't know what the hell came over me just now,” she frowned. “I feel like I'm losing it.”

“You're well within your rights to lose it, Maggie. You go ahead and fall if you need to, you got people who love you and we ain't gonna let nothing happen to you.”

“You're something else, Merle.”

“I'm gonna protect you, no matter what it takes. You don't worry about nothing but that baby comin', OK?”

“You don't know what this means to me, Merle...thank you,” she said softly.

Having someone willing to protect her, come hell or high water, in the same world where she was about to give birth was no small thing, and she appreciated the gesture more than she could express in that moment. Merle was, for all intents and purposes, her defender and she couldn't help feeling something deep inside for him that she couldn't quite name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sigh...slooooooow burn:)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where Merle puts his money where his mouth is, he promised Negan would die and he'll do anything it takes...

> **Chapter 11**

* * *

Merle was gone until the next morning, by which time, Daryl was losing it. He was just about to go searching for his brother when he showed up just as the people of Alexandria were waking up and demanded that he meet him outside the gates.

“Merle, what the hell is going on?” Daryl exclaimed. “What did you find out?”

“Follow me,” he smirked.

“Where are you going?” Carol asked as Daryl pulled on his boots to follow his brother out the front door.

“I'll have him back in no time, Carol. Promise,” Merle winked.

They stepped out onto the street and Merle pulled him toward the gate being guarded by Tara before anyone else could notice that he was back. Somehow Tara knew not to ask any questions and simply nodded her head as she passed.

“Merle, what's happening? Where are you taking me?”

“I found two of Negan's people. They were on their way to Alexandria to see about those guys I killed but I've got them secured in an outbuilding,” he grinned.

“What are you doing with them?” Daryl asked as he tried to keep up with an over-enthusiastic Merle.

“I'm going to get information and you're gonna help me. I was trying to get them to talk, but it's all this, “I am Negan” bullshit so we need to get more persuasive.”

“What?”

“One of them's a woman but all of Negan's people are the same,” Merle insisted.

“Merle, wait! What the hell are you talking about?” Daryl demanded.

He was afraid then, he couldn't deny it. Merle turned to glare at him and he could tell that the night before, something had happened in the woods to change him in some way. There was new determination and new purpose.

“You have a woman now, don't you?” Merle asked.

“Yeah, but it doesn't have to be this way, does it?”

Merle pointed to an outbuilding in the distance, barely visible through some thick brush.

“The people in there would hand your woman over to have her skull bashed in before your very eyes if they only had the chance. They told me as much,” Merle growled. “Now is not the time for softness and sympathy. Now is the time to decide if it's their skulls or Carol's. I have no woman to protect but I'll be damned if any of our people are killed because we showed weakness with these animals.”

Daryl could see that his brother was beyond the beyond but had no argument to stop him now that he had so much to lose. The question was, could he let Carol be the next victim if all he had to do was listen to Merle and get the answers they needed?

Merle was back at the outbuilding within a few minutes with Daryl hot on his heels and there seemed to be no stopping him. Merle busted through the door, Daryl hadn't seen him this amped up in years.

“Wake up!” he growled.

He had two people hog-tied with thick zip ties on the dirt floor of the outbuilding that had once stored materials for hunting or some industrial purpose. He had them gagged and bent down to remove them so they'd have a chance to speak. It was dark and grim and cold and Daryl knew this couldn't end well.

The man and woman on the ground slowly gained consciousness and Merle pulled a chair from next to the door to seat himself before them.

“I haven't had any luck with these two, brother,” he grinned. “But they're gonna tell us everything we need to know if I have to yank every God damned fingernail from their hands.”

Daryl watched as Merle turned back to the man and woman on the ground.

“So, you two still pulling this 'I am Negan' shit?”

“We aren't telling you anything!” the woman hollered.

“I respect that, sweetheart, but I got my own loyalties.”

Merle walked over to the woman and searched her pockets.

“Don't touch me!” she screamed.

“Next time I touch you, I'll be pulling teeth or fingernails,” he growled. “You happen to see what Negan did to two of our best men? You'll be begging for a death like that if you don't start talking.”

“We have two outposts!” the woman blurted.

“Shut the fuck up!” her partner screamed. “She's lying!”

“Come on,” Merle grinned. “Fuck him, you just talk to me now, girl.”

The woman lay her face in the dirt for a minute to think before finally divulging exactly where the two outposts were located and the easiest way to access both locations. Daryl couldn't believe how persuasive and terrifying his own brother was when he wanted to be.

“Merle..."

"It's alright, Daryl. We got what we need now. How often are these outposts checked?” he demanded.

“Once a week...they were just checked about six days ago so the three guys at each post will be relieved tomorrow evening.”

“If they let us go, I'll kill you myself, Marta!” the male Savior screamed.

“I take it what she's saying is true?” Merle asked. “Confirm that it's all true, and I'll let you go and you can kill her for all I care.”

“It's true,” the man replied.

Daryl watched as if in slow motion as his brother pulled back the slide on his 9mm to chamber the first round in the magazine and casually shot them both in the back of the head.

“We got our outposts,” he said in a dry tone.

“What the hell did you just do, Merle?” Daryl exclaimed.

“Open your eyes, brother! This is war. These people are behind the deaths of Abe and Glenn, they would have done it with their own hands if Negan asked them to. We have people to avenge and I'm gonna see that it's done. Maggie wants Negan dead so he's gonna die,” he insisted.

“This is more than you being nice, Merle. Admit it, you're doing this for her personally.”

“She wants revenge and she will get it,” Merle answered. “I made that woman a promise and now I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to keep it. We know where the outposts are now. You and I can take one each and the main group can go for the Sanctuary with Eugene's explosives.”

“Merle...”

“I ain't sorry, Daryl. This is for Carol and Maggie and everyone back at Alexandria. What about Tara and Denise, Rick and Michonne, Aaron and Eric...all the couples back there? And what about Carl and Judith? Who would you give in exchange for these people?” he asked, pointing to the bodies on the ground.

“None of them.”

“I thought so. Nobody has to know, Daryl, and we got what we needed to know.”

Daryl was still stunned as his brother gathered up his belongings to get going and wasn't sure in that moment if he still knew who Merle really was.

“Daryl...I'm not letting that woman lose anything else. I know you're worried that I'm delusional about Maggie but I'm not. I know what I am. I know I don't mean a damn thing to anyone but you and that's why it's me who should do things like this. I'm a free agent except for you, Daryl.”

Daryl couldn't fight it anymore and there was no bringing back the two Saviors on the ground. Sadly, Merle was right. They had what they needed now, this information would help keep everyone at Alexandria safer as the Sanctuary fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merle is in beast mode and not playing any games with these people. I know it may seem a little harsh that he kills people this way without feeling bad about it but it always bothers me in the show when the group catches someone who would kill them all as soon as look at them and they're all like, "But we should be nice, right? Maybe they can change!" I don't know, that just drives me crazy cause I do not think people in the ZA would risk it when there are vulnerable people to be protected and limited resources to share..like seriously, the group have been feeding the man who bludgeoned Glenn and Abe to death for YEARS now. I would not do that. NOPE! lol


	12. Chapter 12

> **Chapter 12**

* * *

“Two outposts?” Rick mused.

“We know the locations and I think me and Merle should each take one. We could take out anyone who shows up there as well. They have three Saviors arriving at each post tonight to relieve the ones already there. That's twelve Saviors taken out right there.”

“And you aren't telling us how you got this information?” Michonne asked again with raised eyebrows.

“The information is good. That's all you need to know,” Merle insisted.

“So you two take the outposts and we take the Sanctuary?” Rick clarified.

“With Eugene's explosives and the decent amount of firepower we have, it's as good an attack as we can pull off,” Carol said.

“You have a point, and after Merle killed two of their men, we really don't have a choice but to fight back,” Rick sighed.

“Do you really think we ever had a choice?” Merle shot back. “You can throw that in my face till the cows come home and I'll never regret it. Someone has to defend women in this world and I'm quite happy for that to be me if no other man around here cares to do it.”

Rick was silenced by that response and apparently was finished rubbing Merle's nose in his mistake.

/

Daryl and Merle charged up radios and gathered the necessary weapons at Merle's place. They collected all that they'd need to take out their respective outposts but Merle was especially quiet and Daryl knew this silence well.

“Alright, what's going on with you?”

“Nothing, just getting in the right headspace.”

“I think I'm taking Carol with me,” Daryl announced.

“You sure that's smart. She's a hell of a fighter but can you keep your head in the game when you're worried about her?”

“I don't need to worry about her, she's more capable than any man here?”

“I know that, I just meant because you love her.”

“I do love her,” Daryl smiled.

Of course Merle knew that.

“I know...and I'm really happy for you, brother. If anyone deserves this it's you.”

“You deserve it too, Merle.”

“It's not in the cards for me, but I appreciate that.”

“Merle, there's plenty of women at Alexandria. Carol could set you up with someone.”

“I don't want it like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want it to happen on its own if it happens. I don't want some poor woman being guilt tripped into spending her time with me.”

Daryl understood what he meant and didn't have an argument against Merle's point of view.

“Well, I'm sure you'll end up with that happening anyway,” he insisted.

“I'm the cyborg of Alexandria and there ain't a single woman here who'd sink so low and you know it.”

“Merle, for Christ sakes!”

Carol walked into Merle's home then and Daryl noticed how he clammed right up about it. Daryl knew his brother couldn't go into battle feeling as shitty as he did and he needed Carol's help in that department.

“Can you tell my boneheaded brother that he's lovable?”

“Merle, you are very lovable.”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously, what's going on?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Merle grumbled, checking his favorite sidearm and suppressor for fit.

“I think my brother here needs someone,” Daryl sighed.

“Are we talking about Maggie?” she asked.

“What the hell?” Merle jumped in. “Who said anything about Maggie? Don't you go saying anything to Maggie!”

“I'm not, Merle! Relax!” she exclaimed.

That clinched it for Daryl, he knew then that his brother was madly in love and he hated for Merle that it would probably never happen. Maggie was a widow and they didn't have a great past. She seemed to appreciate all that Merle had done for her lately but that wouldn't necessarily translate into love.

“I'm gonna get going,” Merle sighed.

“Merle, I'm sorry,” Carol said. “I just thought...you've been spending so much time with her lately.”

“It's not like that, it'll never be like that,” he said. “I was just trying to be nice. Please don't spread it around that I think it's anything different. She doesn't need that headache right now.”

“I didn't say anything to anyone,” Carol pressed. “Please, don't get upset.”

“I'm not upset or anything, Carol. It's OK...I just gotta go.”

Daryl knew Carol was going to beat herself up so he pulled her close as soon as Merle left the house to reassure her.

“I'm so sorry. I just thought he had admitted to it when you were talking about him finding someone.”

“Hey, it's OK. You did nothing wrong. It's him that's living in denial. He needs to accept how he feels about Maggie so he can get over it and move on with his life.”

“Is it impossible?” she asked. “You don't think she could ever love him?”

“After what happened with Glenn? Not a chance. She's too young for him anyway.”

/

Maggie noticed Merle storming down the street on his way to the outpost and stopped him dead in his tracks by shouting his name from her front porch.

“Hey,” he nodded as he backtracked and walked toward her front steps.

“I hear you're heading to an outpost and now you aren't even stopping to say goodbye to me?” she said.

“I didn't know you wanted me to.”

“Don't leave here to do anything dangerous without saying goodbye to me first,” she stated clearly.

“Your wish is my command,” he bowed with a grin. “You feeling OK?”

“My lower back is throbbing all the time but besides that I'm all sunshine and rainbows,” she sighed.

“We have to have someone in this place who can rub your back?” he suggested. “Denise is a kind of doctor, isn't she? Maybe she could do it.”

“That poor woman is trained in psychiatry and I'm already relying on her to be my obstetrician, I'm not going to trouble her about a back rub,” she laughed. “She's giving herself an anxiety issue studying all this labor and delivery stuff.”

“I'm sure someone would be happy to rub your back if you ask around," he suggested.

“Maybe, it sure hurts lately."

"If you can't find someone else, I could do it," he said, "as a last resort."

"You're hired. So, make sure you come back in one piece, OK?"

"I'll try my best."

"Come here," she said.

Maggie opened her arms to him down at the bottom of her steps and he walked up toward her as if he didn't completely trust it, but he hugged her tight and then slowly backed away.

“Be safe.”

“I will. Rosita said she'd watch out for you while I'm gone.”

“You pawned me off on another guard?” she grinned.

“I need to know you're OK. I hope that's not weird."

“I like you watching out for me...I do feel more vulnerable right now. I can barely walk at the moment.” 

“I just worry about you,” he said. “I can't seem to help it.”

“It's OK.”

“Well...I should get moving. The main group is attacking the Sanctuary late tonight and I got work to do first.”

“I heard. I'll pray for you,” she said.

“Thanks for that. Goodbye, Maggie.”

“Goodbye, Merle.”

He paused then and she wondered what he was about to say.

“Goodbye, baby,” he winked and lay his hand on her belly for one quick second. “Be good to your mama, no more making her run to the bathroom.”

Maggie laughed then, she couldn't help herself. She watched as he disappeared down the street and wondered how she could rationalize caring this much for Merle knowing that Glenn disliked him the way he did. 

/

Merle, Daryl and Carol left Alexandria at around the same time with carefully constructed maps made by Merle and Daryl prayed that everything would go smoothly. He felt better with Carol by his side and knew that taking out a few Saviors who weren't even expecting them wouldn't be too hard, but he worried for Merle. His brother had so much going on with his emotions lately and it could be the kind of thing that left him off his game.

Daryl drove with Carol by his side and pulled her in close for a cuddle as they drove.

“I'm worried about Merle,” she sighed.

“He'll be OK. He can turn it on and off like a switch when he has to. I've seen it with him so many times.”

“I can imagine,” she said. “You two have probably seen some bad times.”

“He's taken some real shit for me,” Daryl explained. “It was like he didn't even feel it.”

“What do you mean?”

“My dad hated weakness, and I was really sensitive when I was younger. He'd wallop me for crying and shit like that and Merle would always act up to distract him away from me.”

“He did?”

“Oh yeah,” Daryl continued, shoulder checking before switching lanes as if there would be anyone there. “He'd get all brazen and mouthy if I was gettin' it real bad. He called the old man a limp dick once just to get him off my ass. I almost fainted.”

“He must have been beaten black and blue for that.”

“He took a few good shots but then he left the house and took off for the night. By the time he came back, dad was passed out and he was OK but he would have taken anything for me...it's like he didn't even feel it if it was for me.”

“He's a good brother,” she smiled.

“I know it sounds kinda dumb, but I don't feel right having you when he has nobody.”

“He won't stay single forever. I have a good feeling about that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, call it female intuition. It won't happen overnight and it won't be seamless, but Merle will have someone.”

“Who?”

“Don't you worry about it, just trust me,” she smiled.

“Well, here's to female intuition. I'll trust you on this. We all know women are a million times smarter than men.”

“You're a smart man, Daryl Dixon.”

/

Daryl and Carol came upon their intended target within the next hour and Carol had her gun drawn and ready the moment they exited the vehicle a good half a mile away. She was like a viper and he knew that all he had to do was follow her lead.

She crept around in a wide birth of the small outbuilding and they picked up details of their surroundings quickly. There was only one man visible through the window and he wasn't speaking to anyone. Carol eyed the area and Daryl knew he should watch for someone returning from a bathroom trip or something.

Daryl heard a crunch of leaves after a moment and knew that he was about to come upon one of the three men they were told to expect. He made a gesture to Carol and she winked, sinking lower to the ground and keeping her eyes peeled.

She spotted the offender before he did and they were dropped before they even realized they were being watched. Carol had one of the suppressors on her handgun that Merle had found on a run months ago so they continued toward the outbuilding like thieves in the night.

Daryl and Carol wound up so close that they were beneath the window of the structure and still undetected.

There were two voices inside now and that was what they wanted.

Daryl signaled to her that he was taking a shot and that she should back him up and she nodded.

Daryl crept over the edge of the windowsill and splattered the brains of a Savior all over the walls of the outbuilding. Carol followed suit, dispatching the other Savior without a thought.

“We need to contact Merle if he's at the other outpost,” Daryl said upon entering the building and kicking a body out of his way.

Merle was right, this was war and they couldn't be soft. It was Carol or any of these monsters. Daryl recalled the codename he used with Merle for years and tested it over the enemy radio.

“Yo, fuckhead, you good?”

Carol frowned at him in confusion and then smirked, “Fuckhead?”

Daryl waited with baited breath, praying to hear that scratchy voice of his only family. He had to wait a full minute and a half but then there it was.

“All good, dumbass. All good here. Got me some dead Saviors here and waitin' on some more.”

“Same here, man.”

“Fuckin' right. We got some killing to do, brother, but it's all good.”

“Hell yeah! Alexandria rise up rise up!”

“Fuck yes! Stay in contact when you get some more notches on your belt, brother.”

“Amen. Talk to you then.”

“You got it.”

Daryl put down the radio and caught Carol's eyes on him from across the room. She was looking at him strangely.

“What?”

“Whatever the hell that conversation was...it was sexy as fuck,” she purred.

“Huh?”

“Get over here,” she insisted.

Daryl smirked and got to his feet. What man in his right mind would say no to post-murder sex?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing action scenes is not my strongest suit, but I tried my best for the nest couple of chapters. Thanks for reading! xoxo


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really enjoy writing action and it's not something I feel like I'm very good at. My apologies if you were expecting a multi-chapter epic battle:/ I just wanted the battle over with in one chapter to get back to the more fun relationship stuff.

> **Chapter 13**

* * *

Rick and Michonne were gathered with a group of people they knew could achieve anything. Aaron, Eric, Tara, Sasha, Gabriel, Eugene, and more than a few well-trained Alexandrians all gathered together to ensure that the Sanctuary would hear their thunderous response to the killing of Glenn and Abraham. Some stayed back to protect the children and Maggie but almost everyone else was armed and ready to fight.

Eugene's explosives were ready to go and would be laid around the north side of the Sanctuary fence line, forcing the Saviors out through the southern portion of the gate. A second row of explosives would be laid where the Saviors would be likely exiting. With any luck, many of Negan's men would be blown to pieces. They were all ready for this revenge. Rick and Michonne had finely tuned the plan to give themselves the most advantage and getting the Saviors all in one location would be the best chance they had.

Rick worried that maybe they wouldn't succeed in killing Negan but they had to try.

The vehicles they had available were packed up around 1 am and they tip-toed out of Alexandria praying that the cover of nightfall would be enough to take the Saviors by surprise. They could either fight or wait to be picked off one by one and Rick couldn't help the feeling that Merle Dixon actually had a point. They could die as men or as boys, he would much rather die as a man.

The approach was made in a fanned out style, the group each taking about twenty feet between them and Tara in front with Eugene. They would be laying the explosives and had to be absolutely silent with the main group backing them up. This was a major step for Eugene who typically stayed behind, but he needed to be there to assist Tara in setting up the detonation process. Rick had to rely on the people in the group, his own children were at stake back home. He hated to admit it but something about Merle's reckless abandon for the rules had inspired him, it made him a little envious at first though. Michonne was stunned by Merle's action and had voiced her amazement at the way he defended Maggie.

“He has nothing to gain by it, and yet he's out there every night to make her feel safe while she's pregnant...it's kinda heroic,” she had mused.

Rick decided that maybe it was time to throw caution to the wind a little more and show Negan that they were people who would defend their own. He knew now what he wanted most. There was massive risk in it, but there was also massive risk in doing nothing.

Rick was contacted on the radio by Daryl before entering the area surrounding the Sanctuary and was informed that both outposts had been cleared by himself and Carol and the other by Merle. He told them that they were free to come to the Sanctuary when they felt the outposts were secure and Daryl agreed to that plan.

“Good luck, man. We'll see you soon.”

“Tell Merle thanks,” Rick added.

“Will do. Ten-four.”

/

The first of the explosives were all set into place and Eugene made it back to Rick with Tara next to him.

“Detonation can proceed when you're ready. There's gonna be a whole lotta noise and it'll get them out here pretty darn quick I figure,” Eugene whispered.

“Alright,” Rick breathed. “We good to go?”

“Let's light it up,” Michonne nodded, her eyes like fire and set on the gates of the Sanctuary.

The switch was flipped and the first explosions went off drawing them a little closer in preparation for the Saviors coming out to investigate.

From multiple directions they lay in wait and then the very first few people came out, only to be shot dead on site. They were disorientated by shots coming from all directions at once and soon they were coming out more cautiously, hiding behind cars and other items in the yard of the Sanctuary.

The fire from the first explosions had started some dead wood and bushes burning and in time the Saviors had no choice but to try to fight the fire. Eugene and Tara watched for the moment when the most people were in the line of fire and set off the second line of explosives, sending fire and body parts into the air.

“Jesus!” Eugene gasped. “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”

“Huh?” Tara asked.

“It's from the Bhagavad-Gita...an Oppenheimer quote from when they set off the first nuclear weapon.”

“You had to make this a teaching moment, didn't you, Eugene?”

Eugene's face was lit up with the still-burning fire before him, “It's always a good time to learn.”

/

Daryl and Carol came upon the scene as the group was closing in to pick off stragglers but nobody had seen Negan yet. They both walked side by side toward the Sanctuary that was steadily burning to the ground after Sasha and Aaron threw some Molotov cocktails through the broken windows of the main building. There was nowhere to go for Negan's group, they were surrounded on all sides and being picked off easily. They only took two casualties and both were Alexandrians who would be sadly missed. Eric was hit in the shoulder by a bullet but would survive. All in all, they were amazed at the success of the mission, Negan's numbers were greatly depleted, but they still wanted the man himself. Unless Negan was killed, they would always feel the threat of his return.

Daryl and Carol continued their assault and were making their way around the back of the main building when they came upon Merle and were stunned to see him dragging Negan behind him with a rope around his neck.

“What the hell?” Daryl exclaimed.

“I caught this prick trying to make it back to my outpost after sneaking out and leaving his group to die. I'm gonna take him to the outpost myself and keep him there for now.”

“You think you're gonna get away with this?” Negan spoke up. “That's adorable.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Merle growled.

“Shouldn't we talk to Rick?” Carol asked.

“Can you guard him for a second while I talk to Daryl?” Merle asked her.

“Sure.”

Daryl needed to know what the plan was, Merle was visibly erratic at the moment.

“I'm taking him to the outpost and I'm gonna secure him there. I still got my radio so you can contact me, but if she's up to it, I want you to bring Maggie.”

“What are you talking about?” Daryl asked.

“She said she wants him dead and she said she wants to do it herself...maybe it was just talk, but I want her to have that option if she wants it. If she doesn't want to come, I'll do it myself, but I need you to ask her for me.”

“Do you think she was serious? She's so pregnant right now,” Daryl mused.

“Maybe not, but it's up to her. Like I said, I'll happily kill him myself but I want her to have the choice first. This is her kill, not mine,” Merle explained. "Ask her and let me know over the radio."

“So you don't want us to tell Rick you have him?”

“Fuck no, he'll go soft and try to rehabilitate in lock up or something equally stupid. Negan is dying and that's that. After what he did to Glenn and Abraham, he doesn't get a second chance.”

“Alright. You be careful though,” Daryl said, turning to look at the man they had all come to fear. Carol held him at gunpoint and he looked just as cocky as ever, even zip-tied and with a noose around his neck, he was still Negan.

“I'll be just fine. You just go back there and talk to Maggie for me, OK?”

“Done.”


	14. Chapter 14

> **Chapter 14**

* * *

Daryl talks to Maggie that night because she's still awake and sitting on her porch. She returned with Daryl and Carol and kills Negan. Merle holds her for a long time and Daryl and Carol discuss the two of them outside the outpost building.

Maggie had managed to sleep for a few hours but was awoken by more of her lower back pain as well as the thought that the people she loved most were gone and may not return. Sleep wouldn't be fulfilling until they all returned and she got out of bed to relieve the pressure in her mind and body. She rubbed her hands against her hips and back but couldn't quite manage enough pressure to make it feel better.

Rosita was down in the living room at the request of Merle and she nodded a hello to her as she was resting on the couch.

“Can't sleep?” Rosita asked.

“No,” she sighed. “Any idea what time it is?”

“About 3 am if I had to guess?”

Nobody really went by clocks, they went by the sun and moon like back before man was controlled by time.

“I need some fresh air,” Maggie winced as she waddled toward the door.

“Your back is still bugging you, huh?” Rosita sympathized.

“It's been really bad the last few days, I'm ready for this to be over.”

She stepped out into the cool evening air in her nightgown and robe and realized that the gate was opening at the end of her street. Someone was returning. She waited anxiously to see who it was and quickly spotted Daryl and Carol. She wondered where the rest of the group was and eagerly awaited answers.

“Carol! Daryl!” she called from the porch and they headed straight toward her.

“Is Merle OK?” she asked as soon as they were within earshot. “Is anyone hurt?”

Daryl stepped up onto the porch and she wished he would just spit it out.

“Merle is OK,” he answered finally. “He has a message for you, but I don't want you to feel any pressure about this."

“What is it?”

“He has Negan.”

"What?” she exclaimed.

“Merle captured him as the Sanctuary was falling and has him in a secure location at the outpost he cleared. He mentioned that you said you'd like to take care of Negan yourself...is that true?"

She thought about it for only a moment and then Glenn's face and she knew what she had to do.

“I'll get dressed," she said, "take me to him."

“He wanted you to know that if you don't feel up to it, he would do it himself,” Daryl added.

“No. I'll do it.”

Daryl looked over at Carol and she could see that they were both unsure about taking her out in her condition. She knew it was genuine concern for her physical and mental well-being so she didn't take it personally, but this was what she needed. Since the day Glenn was killed, a quiet rage had burned in her heart and she needed to put that fire out. Maybe this isn't what her father would do, maybe even Glenn wouldn't, but this was her decision to make because only she was left standing.

Maggie was forced to lie to Rosita about where she was going. She didn't need Rick to be informed of her plans, she had to do this before anyone could cloud her resolve with false and misplaced empathy. Rosita was told that Daryl and Carol were taking her to get her back examined by Denise and that excuse wouldn't likely hold up for long but it didn't matter. She needed enough time to get away and that was all.

/

Daryl drove with Carol at his side and Maggie in the backseat, wondering what the hell he was thinking. It felt like the most ridiculous thing in the world to be taking a heavily pregnant woman out in the middle of the night to meet with a madman. Carol was visibly concerned as well, and as they pulled up, the whole thing felt ominous.

Merle opened the door to the small outpost building when the car pulled up and came outside to meet with them.

“You OK?” he asked Maggie right away.

“Yeah...you have him inside there tied up or something?” she asked.

“He ain't going anywhere,” Merle nodded. “He's fully secured to a chair and the prick hasn't shut up since I brought him here. I can gag him if you prefer.”

“That's OK.”

“You really wanna do this? You know I'll do it for you.”

“Thanks, but I need to do this myself.”

Daryl watched the conversation between Maggie and his brother and noted a sense of ease in the way they spoke to each other. He didn't realize they were on speaking terms like this and it surprised him.

“If you're gonna do this, then you should use my gun,” Merle pressed.

“Why?”

“It has a silencer...you don't wanna give the baby a heart attack.”

“You think of everything,” she smirked.

Daryl found himself more anxious than expected. What would Negan say to her? Was there any danger involved in this for Maggie? Would she regret doing this herself?

Merle lay his hand on her shoulder then and looked her right in the eyes. Daryl was surprised with the way she seemed so comfortable with this kind of physical contact with Merle.

“You're sure?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Alright then, here.”

Merle handed over his weapon to her and all four of them entered the building where Negan was sat looking smug as ever.

“Well, looky here,” he grinned. “It's the widow!”

Maggie's heart raced and she looked at Merle, hoping to draw some strength from his eyes. He nodded to her as if to say 'you got this, don't let him rattle you' and she proceeded to casually pull the magazine from Merle's 9mm.

“I heard something about you,” Negan continued. “I heard that you're a God-lovin' farmer's daughter, is that true?”

Maggie counted the bullets just for something to do as he rambled and then used the heel of her hand to secure the magazine back in the firearm. She checked that the safety was off and took a few deep breaths to prepare herself. She had no intention of indulging him in conversation, but she was planning out the last words he'd ever hear in her mind.

“What would your father think of your vengeance? Isn't that against the good book's message?” he smirked. “This isn't you and you know it.”

Maggie pulled back the slide of Merle's gun to chamber a round and stood before him knowing he couldn't touch her and that his words no longer mattered. For a moment she was kneeling on the gravel again wishing she could kill him, knowing he was about to kill one of the people she loved. For all she knew in that moment, it could have been her. She hated him so much in that moment and it would never go away. Every breath that Negan drew now was one that Glenn never would again. Maybe her father wouldn't do this, maybe God wouldn't approve, but she was trapped in a world where a man as good as Glenn could be bludgeoned to death...Maggie had taken all she could.

Somewhere outside of her mind, Negan was still rambling, probably thinking he was making her reconsider it when in reality she was becoming excited.

Merle stood next to her with his arms crossed, still on guard for her and she raised the gun to Negan's forehead. The room was silent then and she finally saw fear in his eyes.

“Wait a second,” Negan exclaimed. "Just think about this for a second."

This was the first time she didn't hear that cockiness in his voice, but it didn't move her in the slightest.

“This is for my husband,” she said calmly and then pulled the trigger without a hint of hesitation.

A suppressed shot, a red mist, and a slumped body. It was over and her whole body began to tremble with relief. Merle grabbed her when her legs started to buckle and he held her close for what felt like forever. He rubbed her back and she felt safe again. Daryl took the gun from her hand and she lay both hands on Merle's back, wondering if the shaking would ever stop.

“Let's get you home,” Merle said finally. “You OK?”

“I did it,” she muttered.

“Any regrets?” Merle asked.

“No. I feel...free.”

“Come on, honey.”

Merle helped her out to the car he had driven to the outpost and told Daryl and Carol that he would make sure she got home OK.

“What's going on with you two?” Daryl asked.

“Nothing. I just care about her,” Merle said, looking back at her in the car staring straight ahead.

“Do you think this was the right thing for her?” Daryl pondered.

“It ain't for me to say, she's an adult. She told me this is what she wanted and I gave it to her.”

“At least he's dead,” Carol sighed. “See you back at Alexandria.”

“See you there,” Merle nodded and got into the vehicle with Maggie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore JDM with every bone in my body, but Negan can suck it. #notsorry.


	15. Chapter 15

> **Chapter 15**

* * *

  
  


“Tell me I did the right thing getting them to come get you,” Merle said as soon as they were alone.

“You did,” Maggie assured him. “This is what I needed.”

He was gripping the wheel tight and she could feel the tension radiating off of him.

“I only ever wanna do right by you, Maggie. I want you to know that.”

“I know and I don't regret this.”

“You were just shaking so much in there. I was really worried.”

“It's just the shock of it all...killing the man who murdered your husband is no small thing.”

“I get it,” he nodded, “and the baby is OK?”

“Still squirming as usual.”

“Thank God for that. You feeling less shaky yet?”

“A little, I'm going to be OK. I just think I need some rest, and now thanks to you I'll be able to sleep soundly,” she smiled.

“It was my pleasure, believe me. Seeing that bastard die for what he did to you was a thing of beauty.”

She smirked then at how much Merle was enjoying it. Death wasn't really something to be enjoyed but in the case of Negan, she would excuse his happiness.

“Maybe at one point he was redeemable, but not after what I saw,” she said. “I'll never forget what happened to Glenn...I'll never be able to get those images out of my mind, but I can let go of some of the pain now that Negan is dead. I know he'll never do this to someone else.”

Very soon, they were pulling up at Alexandria and there would be a lot of explaining to do when the rest of the group realized what happened, but Maggie couldn't be bothered in that moment.

“Guess you won't need me guarding you anymore,” he said as he helped her out of the car.

He looked sad at no longer being needed and she realized she would miss his presence as well.

“We'll still see each other though, right?” she said.

“True.”

He walked her over to her front step and she was sure she could feel something strange...and warm...and wet...

“Merle?”

“Yeah?”

Maggie looked down in confusion to see that her pants were wet.

“I need Denise.”

“At this hour?” he chuckled. “What for?”

“The baby is coming."

“Isn't it too early?” he exclaimed.

“We were never sure of the dates, but I need Denise right now either way,” she urged.

“Shit! You come with me and I'll take you to the medical center and then I'll go get her.”

“OK.”

Merle helped her walk to the medical center down the road and left her on a hospital bed with the rails up as he ran to retrieve Denise from Daryl and Carol's house. Maggie lay in the dim light looking up at the ceiling and was afraid that she had started her labor early by putting herself under stress. Merle ran back in only a moment later, just as she was overcome with a strong contraction that seemed to be mostly in her lower back.

“Oh my God,” she winced under her breath.

Merle was speaking to her but she couldn't even process words.

“What?” she asked when the contraction let up.

“I said, Denise is coming. She's just getting dressed.”

“Rub my back,” she begged. “Please!”

She was sure that the pain would stop if she could just get some strong pressure on her lower back.

“I don't know anything about this stuff, honey. I'll go find you a woman, OK?”

“Please, just push on my back, Merle. It's killing me.”

She rolled away from him so he could get to her back and finally he did as she asked.

“Oh yeaaaaah!” she groaned. “That's so good. Please, don't stop.”

“Good lord!” he exclaimed. “I never got a reaction like this out of a woman so easily.”

She couldn't help laughing, she had to find some humor in the middle of her fear.

“Where the hell is Denise?” Merle grumbled. “She better be bringing Tara with her.”

“Are Daryl and Carol back?” Maggie asked.

“Haven't seen 'em yet. I don't think anyone is back yet."

“Keep pushing,” she reminded him.

“Sorry.”

His one hand covered most of her lower back and he began to rub harder, easing up the tension perfectly.

“Please keep doing that,” she pleaded when another contraction began.

Denise walked in then and asked how far apart the contractions were.

“They're coming fast,” Maggie growled through her pain. “Under five minutes, I think?”

“I need to get things set up, it'll only take a few minutes. Tara, can you help her get a gown on?” Denise asked as she raced into action.

“Sure thing,” Tara shrugged.

A curtain was pulled and Merle stepped into the hallway while she got changed. Tara helped her into a gown and covered her with a thin hospital blanket. Merle was asked to return to rub her back and she knew he wasn't really comfortable with medical things but she was in so much more pain than she expected and the pressure he was putting on her back really helped.

“I'm sorry, I know you don't want to be here but this hurts so bad,” she winced.

“If you need me, I'll be here,” he said and she could have cried.

He rubbed her back and she didn't even care that her entire back was bare, all she cared about was the pain easing up. She was laying on her left side groaning at the perfect back rub when Denise finally came in.

“I'll try to check you but I'm no expert,” she sighed as she pulled on a pair of gloves.

“Yep, that's my cue, I gotta go!” Merle insisted.

“Merle, if you stop rubbing my back right now I'll never forgive you!” she whined in frustration.

"Fine, but this is scaring the shit outta me, just so ya know."

Denise frowned and made her best guess but books were far different than real life.

“This feels like nine but it's hard to be 100% sure,” Denise winced.

“I don't feel like I need to push yet,” Maggie assured her. “I just...oh, fuck not again...”

Merle kept rubbing her back and she was sure he was about to faint but she needed him there. There was no pain relief, there was no epidural. All she had was a backrub that was helping and he wasn't going anywhere if she could help it. Something about his presence made her feel calmer as well and she couldn't really explain it.

“Breathe, honey,” he said suddenly when he seemed to sense how painful it was. “It'll go away in a minute. Just hang on a little longer.”

She took some slow deep breaths and sure enough it lifted in time. Tara gave her some ice chips and a cool cloth for her forehead.

“This is going hella fast, huh?” Tara noted.

“Too fast,” Maggie nodded.

“Just stay on your left side if that feels good, but you can walk around if you want to. Gravity is probably our friend right now,” Denise advised.

“I don't really trust myself to walk but I could stand next to the bed and lean over maybe,” she winced. “I want this over now.”

“Might still be a while yet but who knows with how fast you're moving,” Denise sighed. “I'm in way over my head.”

“You've been reading all them books, honey, you got this,” Merle argued. “Every damn time I see you, you're reading. If anyone can help her it's you, Denise. I believe in you.”

“Thanks, Merle,” she smiled. “I'm doing my best.”

/

An hour later, Maggie was leaning over the bed with a towel around her waist and Merle pressing as hard as he could on her back as she groaned and whimpered. It was almost over and she wished so badly that Glenn was there. She was becoming more and more emotional knowing that she would soon see the face of their child. It was so wrong that Glenn wouldn't be able to hold the baby they had wanted more than anything.

She was overcome with the urge to push suddenly and somehow manage to climb onto the bed again.

“Denise!” she called. “I think it's time.”

Carol finally walked in then and Maggie was relieved to see the face of someone who had done this before.

“Carol, I need you,” she called.

“The stupid radiator on the car overheated so we got back late. Are you OK?”

“Yeah, come here,” Maggie pleaded. "I need you."

“You got two women now so I'm going, but you got this, Maggie,” Merle said.

Maggie realized that this was the moment where things would either go well or potentially go very wrong and she began to panic.

“Merle, I'm scared,” she blurted.

She needed him to say something to make it OK. Somehow she knew he'd give her the strength. He bent down to hug her and she felt that security again. Every time he held her she felt like she could relax and let go.

“Listen to me,” he whispered into her ear. “No woman is stronger than you are, Maggie. You're gonna be holding this baby soon. Glenn is watching over you both and everything is going to be fine. I promise.”

She nodded her head as he backed up and tried to look brave. Merle left the room and she imagined Glenn by her side, cheering her on and it helped her stay focused.

/

Daryl watched Merle pace back and forth for over an hour in the front lobby of the clinic and couldn't help the feeling that things had changed with his older brother.

“What the hell is taking so long? You think she's OK?” Merle pressed.

“I'm sure she's fine, Merle. Calm down. You're gonna walk a groove into the floor."

"I guess so...it's just nerve-wracking," Merle frowned.

Daryl had to know now, this wasn't just normal concern for a friend, this was something more.

“Be honest with me, brother...you went and fell for her, didn't you?”

Merle kept walking and shook his head a few times before stopping to answer.

“I'm gonna deal with it," he asserted. "I just need to keep my distance now and I'm sure it'll go away in time. I only ever wanted to protect her and show her some kindness, but then she was so sweet to me...I never expected that. I swear I tried to fight it, but it's just too strong now."

“Merle...”

“Don't worry, Daryl, I'm not gonna trouble her with something this stupid. My job here is done anyway. I'm just gonna get back to doing my own thing again, just hunting and working. She never has to know."

Daryl couldn't have felt worse for him if he tried but he couldn't see Maggie feeling the way Merle did, maybe he was wrong, but he just couldn't see it. He knew it hurt Merle to fight it and force himself to forget his feelings, but it was probably for the best.

Carol stepped out into the hallway then and announced that Maggie had a healthy boy.

“Thank God!” Merle sighed, “and she's doing OK?”

“She's going to be fine, it went really well. Denise did a beautiful job,” Carol smiled.

“Tell her congratulations,” Merle nodded and headed for the door.

“Come back later,” Carol called. “I'm sure she'd love to see you.”

“OK,” he smiled. “See you guys later.”

Merle pushed open the door to the medical clinic and disappeared into the earliest light of morning.

“Is he OK?” she asked.

“He's in love,” Daryl frowned.

“Oh...”


	16. Chapter 16

> **Chapter 16**

* * *

  
  


Maggie spent the rest of the day at the medical center resting in a quiet room with her baby. She cried a lot, but she had expected that. She knew that this would be an emotional time and the joy mixed with heartache was so strong that she broke down more than once.

She named her son Hershel Glenn Rhee and he looked exactly like his father. He had Glenn's eyes and that same straight jet black hair, she could even smell him on her son's skin, at least that's what she told herself. Hershel was perfect and she never wanted to put him down.

“Your father loved you so much,” she whispered as she held him to her chest before laying him in a bassinette next to her bed.

She had no visitors for the first few hours, and then gradually people began to show up. It was a joyous thing to have a new baby in the community and she understood how special an infant was in the new world. Rick and Michonne came, and Daryl and Carol, followed by Aaron and Eric who was also in the medical center being treated for his minor shoulder injury. Rick would want to know more about what happened with Negan but he didn't press anyone for an explanation with everything that was going on.

She wondered as evening fell if Merle would be stopping by to say hello, and then finally he showed his face.

“Hey...can I come in?” he whispered from the door.

Hershel was asleep in a bassinette next to the bed and she nodded for him to enter. He came in slowly and awkwardly and then settled on offering her a quick hug which she happily accepted.

“I won't stay long, I'm sure you wanna rest.”

“I'm feeling pretty good actually.”

“Just wanted to say I'm sorry for being so soft in there when you needed help.”

“You helped me a lot with that horrible back pain and with what you said to me and I kinda forced you to be there when you were uncomfortable so don't be sorry.”

“I just didn't want to make you feel weird. I didn't know where the hell to look.”

“I wasn't even thinking about anything like that,” she assured him.

“He's like a little doll,” Merle smiled. “Cutest baby I ever seen.”

“He looks just like Glenn.”

“He sure does,” Merle agreed. “You managing OK today?”

Somehow he knew that this would be a hard day as well as a really wonderful day.

“Lots of crying, lots of happiness...just lots of different feelings at once.”

“I wish Glenn was here and this could be nothing but happiness for you,” Merle said softly then.

“Thanks...I know I'll make it now, but it's going to hurt for a while yet.”

“If there's ever anything I can do, let me know,” he nodded.

“You've done so much, Merle. I can't thank you enough.”

“No need, it was my pleasure. Was nice to feel useful to someone.”

“You're a good man, Merle Dixon. Don't you ever forget that.”

He looked taken aback by it but simply nodded and smiled. Merle stopped to look down at Hershel sleeping peacefully in his bassinette and smiled so big it made Maggie grin. He held the baby's tiny foot in his hand and shook his head as if in disbelief at how small they were.

“Welcome to the world, little man. Be good to your mama.”

He leaned down to hug her quickly before leaving and she wondered what their relationship would be like now that she was a mother and no longer needed the same protection with Negan gone.

/

Daryl and Carol, like everyone else in Alexandria, were exhausted after all the stress and woke up late on the day after baby Hershel was born. The group had lost three original Alexandria residents in total and Eric was injured but he would recover. Denise treated his injuries immediately after Hershel was born. Daryl and Carol stopped by the medical center to help Maggie back to her home and help her finish setting up for the early arrival. Merle had gone hunting early that morning and to Daryl's knowledge he was already back at home. Maggie walked slowly up the steps as Daryl carried Hershel for her and they noticed a paper bag next to her door with her name on it.

“What's this?” she asked.

“If I'm not dreaming, that's Merle's handwriting,” Daryl said.

Carol picked up the paper bag and they all continued inside to her living room. Daryl kept holding Hershel as Maggie sat down on the couch and Carol handed her the bag.

“It's heavy, whatever it is,” Carol joked.

Maggie wondered what on Earth Merle would be leaving for her and reached in to pull out the first of three items.

“Oh my God,” she breathed.

“What is it?”

Maggie held a baby book in her hands that was clearly handmade by Merle himself. 'For a very special baby' was written on the cover and she opened it up to find all the things you'd expect in a baby book: a family tree section to be filled in, spaces for baby information like birth weight, hair and eye color, a place for a lock of hair, and it was all in Merle's best attempt at handwriting with the wrong hand. There were pictures of baby animals colored in with crayon and she couldn't believe he had done this as well as everything else he'd done for her lately.

“I'll be damned,” Daryl mused. “It must have taken him ages to do all that writing with the wrong hand."

“It's perfect!” Maggie sobbed, “...this is so perfect.”

She imagined him back at his tiny house all alone and thinking to make her something so sweet and it was all too much.

“There's more,” Carol grinned.

“You're brother is making me blubber like a big baby,” Maggie laughed and wiped some tears away.

The bag also contained a jar of honey and a rattle that had been carefully whittled from wood. Maggie examined the rattle, only to discover that somehow it was all carved from a single piece of wood. There was a larger ring with three smaller rings attached but all four rings were solid and had no breaks in them. Each ring was a different color and Daryl explained that Merle had likely used flowers and berries to dye the wood.

“He used to make stuff like this when we were kids. He would boil things to make natural dyes. Pretty creative I guess. It's a bit of a lost art now.”

“How does someone even create something like this?” she asked in amazement.

“Weeks and weeks of carving with the wrong hand, that's how,” Daryl answered. “I bet that's why he borrowed that table vice from the woodshop. It must have taken him forever to make that.”

She could see that Daryl was stunned by it as well.

“Merle is really something else, isn't he?” she smiled.

“He sure is,” Carol agreed, smirking knowingly. “I've never seen him like this before.”

“Me neither,” Daryl sighed.

/

Daryl stopped by Merle's house that night to share in some wine and to talk. He could feel the pain in his brother's voice and knew that it wouldn't be easy for him now with no reason to be near Maggie anymore.

“Want some company?” Daryl asked as he opened the door.

“Sure, come on in.”

“I saw what you made for Maggie. Me and Carol took her home today.”

“Did she like it?”

“She bawled her eyes out.”

“What? Why?” Merle exclaimed.

“She was overwhelmed I think. She loved it.”

“Oh, well that's good then. I never meant to make her cry.”

“I know that, brother.”

Daryl poured them both a tall glass of Eugene's strongest white wine and he could sense Merle's sadness radiating off of him in waves.

“You gonna be OK?” he asked.

“I just don't really know what to do with myself anymore. I mean...what do you do with all the love you feel for someone if you can't give it to them?” Merle asked. “I'm just stuck here all alone with it.”

There it was; the cold hard truth. It was agony for Daryl and he wished he had the right words.

“I don't know, man. I wish I did.”

Merle downed the wine in one sip, hissed at the burn and then shook his head slowly.

“Maggie and baby Hershel are safe now...that's all that matters,” he said.

“You did a great thing, Merle. I'm really proud of you.”

“Thanks, Daryl. That means a lot to me.”

Daryl stayed until Merle was passed out on the couch and covered him up with a blanket before leaving. They talked for hours before Merle got drunk enough to sleep and it was the most depressing conversation of Daryl's life. He would have to watch him closely to make sure he was coping in the weeks to come, he worried now that Merle might feel he had nothing left to give and nothing left to live for.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow is the day! No more slow burn for these two;) #FINALLY


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting the last two chapters and epilogue today because it would be wrong to break this part up at all. I realize that my stories can end abruptly at times and the way this story is 90% build up and then it ends it not my favorite plot progression in the world but this amount of build up felt very necessary for this couple because of their past and also the fact that Maggie is heavily pregnant for almost the whole story.  
> I would have liked to carry on writing them as a couple for longer, but the main plot of them becoming a couple has been fulfilled and I would have to think of more plot to add to the story in order to continue writing their relationship (if that makes sense)  
> Anyway, I do apologize if this feels abrupt but the story is just completed. I hope that these chapters are satisfying anyway, I did put A LOT of thought, time, and effort into this section because it has taken so long to get these two characters to this point and I wanted this to be as good as possible.  
> Thanks for reading! This prompt was a challenge for me, I have never really written Merle with Maggie and this taking place after the Woodbury incident and also with her being pregnant made it a tightrope walk for me but I really enjoyed writing this one.  
> Teagan xoxo

> **Chapter 17**
> 
>   
>    
> 
> 
> **2 months later**

  
  


* * *

Maggie was feeling at one with herself again. Hershel was almost 2 months old and easily the most beautiful baby on Earth. He brought immeasurable joy to her life. Time had healed her wounds as well as they could and each day she took another step forward because she had to, she was a mother now.

She found herself at a town BBQ in the main square for her first real outing since Hershel was born. There was only one person on her mind that day and she spotted him sat alone at a picnic table. For two months she hadn't been able to pin Merle down to a location long enough to speak to him properly and it was driving her crazy. It was clear very quickly after Hershel was born that her feelings for Merle were more than just friends in nature but then she couldn't seem to get close to him anymore.

He had taken to leaving things on her porch every few days, little trinkets and gifts for the baby, so she was pretty sure he wasn't mad at her, but then why was he gone from her life this way? She'd wake up to a jar of honey, a baby toy, some clothing he'd found on a run for Hershel, or a nice piece of meat from his latest hunt that very morning. Maggie didn't understand how they had gone from speaking daily to her never seeing his face, but she wasn't happy. She knew now that she needed him in her life and he needed to know that as well. He was always hunting or tracking or volunteering for unnecessary runs. He was clearly avoiding her but now that he was finally close, he had nowhere left to run.

“Hey there, stranger.”

“Hi, Maggie,” he nodded, looking up at her like he knew he had some explaining to do.

“I hardly see you around anymore.”

“A lot to do,” he said. “Just trying to keep busy.”

“I've missed you.”

“I miss you too.”

He looked awkward at being approached but she needed to have this conversation, it could wait another day. She sat down next to him at the picnic table and moved in close enough that he'd have to face her.

“I've been waiting for a chance to thank you, but I can never seem to catch you,” she frowned.

“Thank me?”

“All the things you leave for me; I really appreciate it. I've been working on filling in the baby book you made. I really love it,” she praised.

“Was no problem,” he smiled. “I'm glad you like it.”

Maggie wondered why he was staying away from her if he missed her the way she missed him. He looked great that night, she had started to notice it back while he was standing guard for her, but tonight she was struck by just how good he looked. He had on a white undershirt, his usual khakis, and a black button-down as he sat in the golden light of early evening. She could smell his cologne on the breeze and it left her missing his hugs so much that it ached even as sat right next to him. She watched as Merle sipped his glass of whiskey and was clearly looking over at Daryl with Carol. One couldn't help but be struck by their new love vibes, they could hardly keep their hands off of each other.

“Did you try the wine? Eugene is quite the master with alcohol, considering he never drinks it,” she joked, trying to make conversation.

“It's good and strong,” he agreed.

A moment of silence passed and he turned his attention to the baby.

“He sure is sweet,” he smiled.

“He is pretty sweet, especially when he sleeps more than two hours at a time. Did you want to hold him?” she asked, as she pulled Hershel out from the sling.

“Yeah,” he smiled, “alright.”

Maggie watched as Merle took the baby from her very slowly and gently to cradle him in his big arms. The smile on his face was priceless when Hershel looked up at him and began to make his baby gibberish sounds.

“Would ya look at that?” he grinned. “It almost looks like he's smiling at me.”

“He doesn't smile for everyone,” she noted. “Poor Father Gabriel hasn't gotten one single smile yet.”

“Poor guy,” Merle smirked.

They both noticed at the same time, Daryl and Carol kissing across the square and smiled in unison.

“They look so happy together,” Maggie noted.

“They do...it's nice.”

She watched him pull faces at Hershel for a while and decided that she needed to get him alone to talk properly.

“I want to ask you something, and I need you to just say yes," she began.

“OK?” he almost laughed, still paying most of his attention to the baby.

“Will you come over tonight?"

“To your house?” he asked.

“I think we should talk.”

“Something wrong?”

“No. Just for company,” she shrugged.

He frowned in confusion as he moved Hershel to his shoulder to rub his back but then nodded. She couldn't help noting that somehow Merle was a natural with babies and it didn't seem hard for him at all to handle an infant with only one hand.

“If you're sure I'm not in trouble,” he joked.

“You're paranoid. I was just going to put this little one down and open a bottle of wine,” she explained, reaching for Hershel to take him home for the night. “If you don't mind joining me, stop by in about an hour and I should have him fed and quiet.”

“Sure,” he answered, but he was still visibly confused.

She left Merle baffled at the picnic table and headed home to begin her evening bedtime routine with Hershel.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The last two months hadn't been easy, but Merle was surviving from one day to the next as well as he could. He offered genuine smiles to Daryl and Carol every time he had to endure their lovey-dovey displays of affection and he tried not to feel pity for himself. He was never promised anything and already had more than he probably deserved. He had his little home and the people he loved were safe. What more could he ask?

He couldn't lie to himself that he wasn't happy on one level to be invited to Maggie's home, but he also knew it would send him right back to step one. The past few weeks had been spent trying to convince himself that it was nothing more than a crush he felt for her and that he'd stop thinking about her if he just stayed away long enough. No matter how much time he spent away from Alexandria though, he couldn't seem to outrun her voice, the way it felt when she hugged him, and the memory of all the times she would bring him coffee and stay just to chat. Living at Alexandria would always be bittersweet and he almost wished she'd just settle down with someone else so he'd be forced move past it once and for all. Knowing she was just down the road made it hard not to wander over there but he had stayed strong somehow.

After a little over an hour, he knew he had to get going and stepped out onto the street in the cooler evening air. He walked to her home slowly, wondering what she wanted to talk about and as he ascended her front steps like a man to the gallows, he knew he was a condemned man for life. Maggie Rhee owned his heart and soul and she didn't even know it. He took a deep breath and knocked on her door.

“Hey,” she smiled as she stepped back to allow him in. “Just finishing up with Hershel, he's being a little extra fussy tonight.”

She was bouncing the little one on her shoulder and from the look of it, he was just about ready to conk out for the night.

“He's just about asleep,” Merle noted.

“Finally,” she sighed. “Come on in, I'll just see if he'll let me lay him down. Have a seat on the couch.”

Merle walked in and sat down in front of a roaring fire and waited for her to come back. When she did return, she was carrying two glasses of wine. He took a long sip and waited for her to explain what it was all about. She sat down right next to him and the scent of her hair and the pretty dress made the whole thing even harder to bare. He wondered if she even knew how stunning she was. Merle was just trying to get used to being so close to her again when she made it clear why he was there and wasted no time getting right to the point.

“I hate to put you on the spot...but it's been driving me crazy and I need to know why you're avoiding me. I need to know the truth.”

He knew then that he had nowhere left to run. By the end of the night, he'd have to tell her everything.


	18. Chapter 18

> **Chapter 18**

* * *

  
  


The conversation continued and he was steadily reeled in like a fish on a hook, helpless and panic-stricken.

“I was just hoping I hadn't done or said something wrong,” she pressed before he could answer.

“You didn't do anything wrong,” he insisted. “I've just had a lot to do.”

“Oh...”

She wasn't falling for it and he knew it.

“Maggie, I swear I'm not upset with you, I never have been.”

“Then what is it? Why did you disappear?”

“It doesn't really matter why. Just don't go thinking it has anything to do with you doing anything wrong cause it doesn't,” he explained without really explaining anything.

“So there is a reason, but you won't tell me?” she frowned.

“Please, don't make me say it,” he winced. “It won't help anything.”

“I'm so confused,” she sighed. "It felt like we were so close, and then you were just gone. I've really missed you. You saved me from my grief and then you just...abandoned me.”

She looked like she didn't believe him at all, like she was still convinced that it was her fault. He didn't have a choice anymore and the feelings he had for her all along hadn't gone anywhere anyway. He figured he may as well come clean.

“I'll tell you, but just remember that I tried to keep this to myself.”

“Just tell me, please,” she pressed.

“It's not easy for me to be around you now,” he sighed. “I only ever meant to keep you safe, but while I was spending all that time near you and you were being so nice to me, I let myself start to really like you. I just wasn't expecting you to be so sweet to me and my heart kinda took it the wrong way.”

“I like you too,” she said softly. “You mean a lot to me. Don't you know that?”

“It's more than that for me, Maggie...I'm so in love with you now that I can barely function. That's why I've been avoiding you. I'm trying my best to get over it and I'll keep trying. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but that's why us being friends isn't a good idea anymore. I can't stop myself wanting more than that.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She was overwhelmed but she could feel it too, in that moment she knew for certain that everything she was feeling for him was love. It felt somehow different from how she felt for Glenn but it was definitely love.

There were probably a million things she should have said, but all she wanted was to make her feelings as clear as possible as quickly as she could. She could see the agony in his eyes at revealing his heart to her and awaiting what he surely thought was rejection. She had to take that agony away.

Maggie reached out and touched his face and he let out a sigh, closing his eyes like it hurt just to be touched, and then she moved in close enough to make him nervous.

“Don't move,” she whispered, and then her lips touched his.

Merle was stunned, she could sense that much, and that was OK. She liked surprising him like this, and maybe she was surprising herself a little as well. They weren't two people who made sense together, but she felt so good with him and it was everything about him: his heart, his voice, his humor, his willingness to go the distance for her, his body. During the time they'd been apart, she found herself thinking of his hand on her belly as he felt Hershel kicking, the way it felt when he rubbed her back, how safe she felt in his arms, and his perfect blue eyes. She never thought she'd like any man's eyes except Glenn's ever again, but here she was.

“Maggie, I don't get it,” he uttered when they finally paused.

“I love you too,” she said. “Don't analyze it, just let it be.”

“I was dying down the road without you, Maggie,” he confessed.

Maggie loved his words, but she was done with words already. The need for physical contact was overriding everything else and she needed to touch him. She moved in closer and held his face with both hands as she took his mouth with her own, pushing the kiss to new heights. There was nothing awkward then, she just needed to push the envelope, to explore where her needs would lead her. Merle was the man who brought her back to life and showed her that there was still warmth, kindness, bravery, and love in the world.

She felt his tongue move against her own and adrenaline began to rise deep in her chest. She moved in closer and closer until she was on his lap with her knees on either side of his thighs. His arms came to wrap around her body and he became more at ease kissing her. Maggie kissed his neck and she drank in the scent of his aftershave. He smelled delicious and she couldn't resist the need to grind down against his already hard dick through his khakis. She imagined him naked then and over her, taking her hard and relentless and she became even more heated and needy for him.

“Maggie, honey...you're makin' me so hard. Are you sure that's what you want?”

“Oh yeah, that's exactly what I want.”

“Damn,” he groaned.

Maggie started to push his shirt back from his shoulders and lay her hands on his chest to look into his deep blue eyes. He was looking at her like she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and she felt sexually powerful. She could feel him, hard as stone beneath her, and she needed him inside her. It was fast and crazy and probably irresponsible, but she knew that sometimes the heart and body want what they want and would not be denied.

He kissed her more feverishly then and she felt his left hand creep up the back of her thigh under her dress all the way to her panties and her body prepared itself for him, becoming wet and needy.

“Come to bed,” she urged and he appeared more than happy to follow as she got to her feet and led him up the stairs.

Maggie lay back on her bed and he crawled over her slowly as her legs came to wrap around his waist, it was sinful perfection. What would the group say if they could see this? She couldn't even let herself think of that in the moment. All that mattered was chasing the desire she felt to wherever it led her.

“What the hell did I do to make you want me?” he asked as he bent down to kiss her throat.

It seemed rhetorical, but she answered him anyway.

Maggie forced him to look right into her eyes for a moment, “You brought me back from the depths of hell...I don't know how I would have made it through this without you. ”

It was like a fire was lit in him then as he allowed himself to believe it was real. His hand moved back under her dress and she moaned into his mouth as his fingertips grazed along the seam of her panties and over her lips through the silk. Just the idea of Merle Dixon touching her felt naughty in some way and she liked that.

Maggie tore at the fly of his pants then and pushed her hand down inside to take what she needed. He was so hard and so big; there was just no way she could stop herself now, and luckily she didn't want to.

“Oh damn!” she whimpered as she groped him ravenously and imagining him inside her.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

From the very first kiss until the moment she touched him like this, it made zero sense, but he couldn't stop, and he didn't dare ask her if she was sure. If she changed her mind, he knew he'd spend the rest of his life longing to be with her again. Merle had never been with someone who really knew who he was. The only women who ever gave him a night of their time were women who knew nothing about him. Maggie knew all the bad things, all the worst things he'd ever done, and yet she was still kissing him.

She yanked his undershirt off then and he dared to even touch her breasts through the lace of her bra. He needed her out of the dress though, he needed to feel her skin against his own. He sat her up to lift the dress over her head and was dumbstruck at the absolute beauty of her. She pulled him back down over her and he was once more wrapped up in her embrace.

Faster and faster it began to spin out of control until they were fully naked in each other's arms and for a moment he just held her close burying his face in her neck, breathing her in. He decided to see if he still had any skill left to offer a woman and made his way slowly down her body as she squirmed on the bed like she was in heat, grasping for handfuls of the sheets as he urged her thighs apart. Every single thing about her was sweet torture. The way she sounded as she breathed deep and slow, whining as he began to touch her.

He kissed the soft, smooth skin of her inner thigh and it was like nothing he'd ever experienced. Maggie had never felt 100% real to him until now. Her soft skin against his rough hand was like beast meets beauty and he decided to stop worrying if it was ok or if it made sense. Merle lay a gentle kiss against her lips and she moaned as her hands moved down to hold his head still, keeping him right there where she needed it most.

“I won't last,” she sighed. “I can't take it.”

“I haven't even started...hold on for me, honey. I wanna do it nice for ya.”

“I'll try...”

He licked a slow pathway from her entrance to her clit, slow like molasses, and then went back to a few more gentle kisses.

“Oh Jesus!” she panted. “You're good at this.”

Merle grinned and added just a little more pressure to his kisses after licking his lips to make them nice and wet. She cried out loud as he sucked her clit softly and he loved every second of her pleasure. Maggie got so into it that she seemed possessed by it all. She let her legs fall flat against the sheets and held his head right there as her hips rolled ever so subtly toward his mouth. There was nothing on Earth sexier than the way she moved as he tried his best to satisfy her. He finished up by sliding two thick fingers inside her to tip the scales in his favor. Still circling her clit with his tongue, he began to suck again and tease her from the inside out with his fingers.

“Oh God!” she whined. “Merle, for Christ sakes! Oh my God...”

He wouldn't let her escape the waves of his tongue as she came and she panted hard as she arched her back, surrendering to it completely.

Merle thanked God that she was pleased with him and waited to see what she wanted next. He didn't want to assume anything, but soon she was on him and erased any doubt about whether the interlude was over or not. She straddled him once more after forcing him back on the bed and then drove him out of his mind with her warm, wet womanhood sliding all over his achingly hard dick.

“You're gonna kill me, honey...please, I can't take it,” he begged.

“Not yet...”

The next thing he knew, she was taking him into her mouth and leaving him absolutely boneless.

“My God, honey...you don't have to...oh Jesus!”

The woman was a she-devil with her mouth and had him tapping out like a boxer well past his prime in the first round. He had to have her then and he had to make it something she'd always remember.

He scooped her up and lay her under him as he came down slowly over her, kissing her again to bring them both back to the beginning.

“I never thought you'd have me, honey. I swear I'll do anything to keep you happy,” he confided.

“I just need you, Merle...I need you here with me.”

Making love to Maggie was like nothing he'd ever experienced. Looking down at a woman as beautiful as she was made him feel like it couldn't possibly be real, but it was. She moaned his name and her eyes rolled back in her head as he began to take her just that little bit deeper. He fucked her nice and slow as she whimpered softly, begging him not to stop. For all the times he had secretly imagined them together, it was never this incredible. It felt so right and she surrendered to him like he was someone could love forever. He wished he knew how the hell his luck had changed so drastically and there was still a part of him that felt unworthy of her but he could have kissed her forever and never need another thing from life. So many nights he had dreamed of her, and now somehow she was his.

“Tell me you love me,” she panted. “Tell me again.”

“I love you, honey...I always will.”

“I love you too,” she moaned.

/

Morning came early with a two month old baby in the house, but watching her feed Hershel before the sun even rose was almost spiritual. Maggie was a great mother and he lay, transfixed, just watching her smile down at the most important person in her life. Merle just wanted to keep them both safe and hoped that he could be included in their family in some way. He wanted to make them pancakes on Sundays and read stories to Hershel before bed. He let his mind wander to a day when he could teach the boy to track and hunt and felt a little overwhelmed. This child wasn't his, but the idea of being able to watch him grow up was exciting.

Maggie looked up as she was gently running her fingers along the baby's forehead and smiled at him. Merle had never seen anything more beautiful than Maggie at dawn, sitting in bed with messy hair and Hershel in her arms and knew he never would.

“I know I'll never replace him, but I'll love you as long as I live, Maggie.”

“I'm not looking for someone to fill his shoes, Merle. I love you just as you are.”

  
  



	19. Chapter 19

> **Epilogue**

* * *

It was a warm evening and Hershel was once again walking a trail with Merle, scanning the ground for signs of animals, signs of anything really. He squinted up at the man who was for all intents and purposes his dad, but he had never called him that. Even at five, he knew Merle wasn't his father, but it felt like he was.

“Merle?”

“Yeah?”

“You knew my father, didn't you?”

Merle sighed and Hershel wondered if the subject was OK to talk about with him. He spoke to his mom a lot about his father, the grandfather he was named after, and the rest of the family he would sadly never meet, but he had never spoken to Merle about it.

“I knew him, he was a great man,” Merle said.

“What was he like?” Hershel pressed.

“Your father was brave, he'd do anything for the group and for your mother. He was great on a run, fast and clever. He could think on his feet and would never leave anyone behind. Your father always did the right thing, even if it was hard...even if it was dangerous. You look just like him and you have all of those great traits that he had, you're the very best of him and your mother.”

“I am?” he smiled.

“You are,” Merle nodded. “You amaze me every single day.”

“Am I like you too?”

“Would you want to be?”

“Yes, you're funny and nice,” Hershel explained. “You teach me to hunt and fish and all about the woods. You're brave too, my mom said you protected her when she was having me.”

“She told you about that?”

“Yeah, she told me about that a bunch of times. You saved her life from those bad guys before I was born.”

“I'm no hero, Hershel...I've done a lot of not so great things in my life, but I'd do anything to protect you and your mom. You two gave me a family I never thought I'd have.”

“I think you're a hero if you saved my mom and me,” Hershel argued.

“I appreciate that, kiddo.”

“Merle?”

“Yeah?”

“What if I called you dad now?”

Merle stopped in his tracks and Hershel stopped right behind him. He had clearly said something significant. Merle turned slowly and looked down at him with a big smile.

“I always kinda hoped you'd call me that someday,” Merle said finally, "but I never wanted to bring it up...I wanted you to make that decision."

“I was gonna ask you before, but I didn't know if I should."

"You can always tell me anything that's on your mind, Hershel. I want you to know that."

"OK...dad," he smiled.

Sometimes grown up stuff was confusing and Hershel wondered if he was saying things right.

"You really made my day, kiddo," Merle grinned. "You know how much I love you, right?”

"I know. I love you too," Hershel answered.

They had always said 'I love you' but now it was extra special. Merle was officially his dad now.

“Let's head back before your mama starts to worry,” Merle suggested.

“Can I play with Jack tomorrow?”

“Sure thing. Uncle Daryl and Aunt Carol will bring him over to play.”

“I'm gonna teach him to track just like you,” Hershel grinned.

“He's only two years old, he'll be the best tracker around if you start teaching him this young,” Merle cackled.

Hershel loved Merle's voice, there was comfort in the familiar, raspy sound he'd been listening to for as long as he could remember. Merle read him stories every night and would do different voices for every single character. He was a good dad and Hershel felt grateful for him.

When his legs got tired and he began to fall behind, Merle turned around to lift him up onto his shoulders like it was nothing. Hershel leaned his cheek on the top of Merle's head and felt completely at peace. He always felt safe with Merle around, he knew nothing would ever harm him or his mom. Hershel knew all about the walkers and the wars of the past, but he was largely untouched by any of those worries thanks to his family.

He looked up at the sky, awash with the colors of sunset: orange, pink, purple and gold. Hershel's little world was a good place, filled with people who loved him and now he could call Merle 'dad' and that made him even happier than he expected.

Soon they would be back home with mom and in the morning Merle would make his famous pancakes, it would be Sunday morning and that's what they always did...

**The End**

  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> * This story was a prompts from a wonderful reader (hudsonbird) and I hope I have done it justice:)
> 
> I'll be posting this every 2-3 days, but I won't leave anything on a major cliffhanger if I can help it.


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